TruAmerica continues buying spree in Greater Orlando with Altamonte Springs apartments purchase

TruAmerica, a Los Angeles-based multifamily owner-operator, added to its presence in the Orlando area with the recent purchase of The Crest at Altamonte multifamily community, formerly Central Parkway Apartments.

The company paid $62 million for the 340-unit, garden-style apartment complex, according to a deed signed Dec. 18 in Seminole County. The seller was Eaton Vance Management Real Estate Investment Group of Boston.

The Crest at Altamonte was the ninth property acquired by TruAmerica in the Orlando MSA since the company started expanding to the East Coast in 2016. TruAmerica’s most recent acquisitions locally were The Fairways at Lake Mary and the Island Club Apartments in Orlando Metro West, which has been rebranded as Fourteen 01 Apartments. Both purchases were in early 2019.

“Our general strategy has been to invest in first- and second-ring suburbs around major metros across the United States, Matt Ferrari, head of acquisitions and East Coast asset management, told GrowthSpotter. “We think there is a need for this type of housing and a need for it to be renovated and preserved providing gray collar workers a nice place to live.”

The two-story apartment buildings, built in 1986, cover nearly 28 acres in the southeast quadrant of West Central Parkway and Marion Avenue in Altamonte Springs. There is a lot of deferred maintenance and renovations that will take place over the next couple of years, Ferrari said.

“We’ll take care of any deferred maintenance along with landscaping upgrades and clubhouse upgrades while renovating all of the apartment homes,” Ferrari said. “They’re pretty much original from when the property was built in the mid-80s. New countertops, stainless steel appliances, hard-surface (vinyl) flooring, light fixtures, and plumbing fixtures will be installed.”

Apartments at The Crest at Altamonte are available for rent now. Ferrari said exterior improvements, including painting, will take place right away. Upgrades to apartments will take place on an individual basis.

“We’ll renovate the apartments as residents move out, perhaps several per month,” he said. “Over a few years we’ll have brought all of the homes up to 2020 levels.”

Ferrari said TruAmerica is on the look-out for similar properties across Central and Southwest Florida.

TruAmerica was founded in July 2013 as a joint venture between Robert Hart and The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. Its first East Coast acquisition was a three-asset portfolio in Baltimore. Since then, the company has purchased six more properties near Baltimore and nine in Florida, according to the publication Multifamily Executive.

TruAmerica has $8.7 billion in assets under management, consisting of 158 properties with 40,738 units, according to its website. In addition to Florida, Maryland and California, the company owns properties in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

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