Berkadia arranged the sale of Riverland Apartments, a brand new, 276-unit garden-style luxury apartment community located in Fort Lauderdale. Senior Managing Directors Roberto Pesant and Jaret Turkell, Associate Director Omar Morales and Senior Financial Analyst Jose Mota of Berkadia Miami, marketed the property for MORGAN, a Houston-based multifamily investor.

“Housing in Fort Lauderdale, and across most of South Florida and the Sun Belt, has become increasingly more expensive, leading to an affordability issue,” Evan Schlecker says, president of MORGAN, based out of MORGAN’s Miami office. “MORGAN is focused on delivering new, Class A rental product at a more attainable price point that is within reach for citizens who are the backbone of their communities. We have a strong pipeline of similar communities planned across Florida to help add much-needed rental product to the existing stock of options that is currently undersupplied. Riverland Apartments is a prime example of the product South Florida needs: surface parked, fully amenitized, with proximity to downtown, transportation corridors and retail.”

Located at 420 SW 27th Avenue, the new gated community consists of six four-story buildings with a unit mix of 24 studios, 164 one-bedroom, 80 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom apartments. Apartments offer high-quality finishes with an amenity package that includes contemporary spaces for social gatherings, fitness, business and relaxation. There is a resident business center, internet lounge, clubroom for meetings, entertaining kitchen, a state-of-the-art fitness center with a virtual fitness studio, and a mailroom with parcel lockers. Amenities include a covered seating area with gas grill stations, covered veranda for relaxation, pool pavilions, sunbathing deck, dog park and heated pool that overlooks a lake.

“Riverland is uniquely positioned to draft off the demand for housing in or near Downtown Fort Lauderdale while also providing its residents superior connectivity to the region’s major employment hubs,” Pesant says. “The location presents a unique alternative to rapidly increasing downtown Fort Lauderdale rents. This, combined with a rental housing deficit in Broward County, a wave of corporation relocations and expansions to South Florida, have translated into substantial rent growth throughout lease-up.”