Maitland’s Town Trelago multifamily community grabs record $105M sale price

Miami-based Related Group just sold its Town Trelago luxury multifamily community in Maitland for $105 million, marking the highest price paid for an apartment community in the Orlando metro area this year.

The deal for the 350-unit project at 601 Trelago Way breaks down to about $300,000 per apartment. It was completed by Related earlier this summer.

Multifamily development, investment and management firm, Kettler, was the buyer.

The Virginia-based firm entered the Greater Orlando market in 2017 after purchasing land in Celebration, where it recently broke ground on a $75 million multifamily community.

Jeffrey Robbins, vice president of development for Related’s Central Florida portfolio, told GrowthSpotter the firm worked with Walker & Dunlop’s Chris Chadbourne and Brian Moulder to bring it to market.

“It was somewhat of a restricted sale, in that only a limited number of buyers, we thought, may be interested during the lease up phase,” Robbins said. “But Walker & Dunlop knew how strong of a property it was.”

It sold about 65 percent occupied, Robbins said.

Town Trelago consists of 13 luxury garden-style apartment buildings that overlook Lake Hope in Maitland.

The complex consists of a mix of luxury studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, with rents ranging from about $1,400 to $2,375 per month.

Amenities include a 24-hour fitness pavilion, summer terraza for outdoor dining and lounging, and an infinity-edge swimming pool with a Jacuzzi and cabanas that overlook Lake Hope.

V Starr, a design firm founded by professional tennis athlete Venus Williams, designed the interiors of its clubhouse.

It sits within the 65-acre Trelago mixed-use community that’s poised to feature over 100,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space. According to submitted site plans, a major grocery store and fitness center will be the anchors.

Additional plans call for a new office development, hotel and assisted living facility.

Foundry Commercial is contracted to develop the proposed Shoppes at Trelago commercial center fronting Maitland Boulevard. The company is currently working with city planners to arrange the entitlements.

Plans should go before the City Commission by the second quarter of next year, Robbins said. If approved, construction should begin soon after.

Battaglia Group is the master-planner behind the mixed-use project. The property had been an old citrus grove farm that had been with the same family for generations.

The $105 million deal for the multifamily portion exceeds what other investors have spent this year in greater Orlando.

It scantily topped the $104 million Venterra Realty paid for the 607-unit Northbridge at Millenia Lake apartment complex in September.

However, it follows the highest-priced sale of a multifamily property to date. According to CBRE, that deal took place last year when the Related Companies, led by Stephen Ross, dropped $112 million for the Timberlake & The Glades apartments in Altamonte Springs.

“I think [the quality of the project] is validated by recognizing it on the sale price," Robbins said.

To give a comparison, in Osceola County, the highest price paid per apartment for a multifamily community broke down to about $241,000 per unit. In January, Bluerock Real Estate paid $211,038 per unit for The Gate apartments in downtown ChampionsGate.

In Orange County, investment firms are paying a little more for upscale multifamily communities.

Earlier this summer, Brian Moulder and Chris Chadbourne also helped broker an $84.45 million purchase of a 268-unit apartment community in Winter Park. That deal broke down to about $315,112 per unit.

In October, Miami-based real estate investment firm Starwood Capital Group paid $86 million to acquire the sister multifamily development next door. The 278-unit luxury apartment building had been recently completed by the Bainbridge Companies.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at arabines@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-5427, or tweet me at @amanda_rabines. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.