A 350-unit apartment community near Universal Orlando that began leasing just last summer has sold for an eye-catching price tag.
Legacy Universal, at 7488 Universal Blvd., sold for $129 million — or $368,571 per unit — on Aug. 31, according to a deed posted to Orange County public record Sept. 6.
The buyer is Beverly Hills, California-based OpenStreet Capital LLC, a privately held investment firm with a focus on acquisition and management of assets in California, the Pacific Northwest, Nevada and Florida.
The property was sold by its original developer, Foster City, California-based Legacy Partners, and its joint venture partners Phoenix Capital Management LLC and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners.
The brokerage group representing the seller in the transaction was the Newmark Multifamily Capital Markets team of Scott Ramey, Brad Downing, Paul Grant and Patrick Dufour.
Legacy Partners acquired the 11-acre site in Feb. 2020 for $11.5 million from Orlando-based Republic Properties LLC. It broke ground in summer 2020 and began leasing in summer 2021. Its construction was estimated to cost at least $66 million, based on industry standards.
Atlanta-based Dwell Design Studio was the architect for the four-story, modern garden apartment community, and Jacksonville-based Summit Contracting Group Inc. was the general contractor. Regions Bank was the construction lender.
Built at the southwest corner of Universal Boulevard and Carrier Drive, Legacy Universal features studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units with luxury finishes and amenities such as keyless entry, smart thermostats and smart dimmer switches, among other things.
The property was 96% leased at the time of the sale.
“With Legacy Universal, we introduced the Legacy brand into the Orlando market and set a new expectation for luxury apartments,” said Jon Wood, senior managing director of Legacy Partners, in a prepared statement. “This highly amenitized community was met with huge demand from renters seeking proximity to major employers such as Universal Studios and Lockheed Martin.”
The acquisition by OpenStreet Capital appears to be the California firm’s second multifamily property in metro Orlando, after it bought 320-unit skyscraper SkyHouse in downtown Orlando for $101.25 million in April. OpenStreet executives were not available for comment.
The two big-dollar acquisitions by the firm come amid an evolving landscape for commercial real estate, with economic headwinds such as inflation and rising interest rates — but one that has not seemed to dampen enthusiasm for multifamily properties in metro Orlando.
For instance, another California firm — Los Angeles-based TruAmerica Multifamily — closed on more than 1,000 units spanning three properties in the region in July.
Matt Ferrari, a co-chief investment office in Miami for TruAmerica Multifamily, told OBJ the firm is bullish on multifamily in Central Florida. “There still can be good investments to make, regardless of the capital markets. You sometimes just have to look a little harder.”
The Legacy Universal property is in the I Drive Orlando multifamily submarket, which is the busiest in the region with 1,313 units delivered in the past 12 months and 6,654 units under construction, according to CoStar Group. The submarket has an average monthly apartment rent of $1,945 and a 7.1% average vacancy rate. In comparison, the metro has an average apartment rent of $1,810 and a 5.6% average vacancy rate.
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