MIAMI—Lloyd Jones, a multifamily investment firm based in Miami, recently sold Deerwood Park Apartments, an apartment community in Jacksonville, Florida, to provide favorable returns to its investors after adding value to the property through a capital improvement project.

Lloyd Jones acquired the 282-unit, garden-style community in October 2017 and sold it in December 2020 after surpassing the projections of the original business plan. The firm’s joint venture partner in the deal was a Chinese wealth fund group.

“Deerwood Park outperformed our initial underwriting of an anticipated five-year hold period to meet its target yield and IRR parameters within just three years. We consider this a highly successful exit for our partner and ourselves,” said Ashley Socarras, who oversees the entire investment division for Lloyd Jones as the firm’s EVP of Investments.

During the hold period, Deerwood Park Apartments was professionally managed by Lloyd Jones Multifamily Management, who maintained the property at a healthy occupancy while executing the interior and exterior enhancements. Upgrades included converting the indoor basketball court to an oversized fitness center with a yoga studio and creating a co-working lounge.

“The Southside submarket of Jacksonville is one of the area’s strongest for millennial renters and young professionals,” added Stuart Keller, SVP of Asset Management for Lloyd Jones. “The capital improvements we chose to implement at Deerwood were appealing to this growing demographic.” Jacksonville is rapidly expanding in the finance, technology, and healthcare sectors, with major corporations like Florida Blue, Bank of America, and SoFi calling the Southside area home.

“I am thrilled that we produced these results for our multifamily investment partners,” stated Chris Finlay, chairman/CEO of Lloyd Jones. “Our firm is very optimistic for the year ahead.”

 

ABOUT LLOYD JONES

Lloyd Jones, LLC is a real estate investment and development firm with 40 years in the industry under the continuous direction of Chairman/CEO, Christopher Finlay. Based in Miami, the firm has divisions in multifamily investment, development, management, and senior living. Its investment partners include institutions, private investors, and its own principals. To learn more about Lloyd Jones, visit www.ljasl.wpengine.com.

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The Jacksonville region is one of the most attractive MSAs in the country for multifamily development and investment. Its strong population and employment growth, plus rising income levels continue to drive demand. In fact, 2019 marked the fourth consecutive year that multifamily investment sales crossed the billion-dollar mark in the Jacksonville market. [i] And according to CBRE’s 2021 Market Outlook, Jacksonville is one of the Southeast metro areas that has responded the best to the economic challenges caused by COVID-19 and is consequently well-positioned for solid performance in 2021.[ii]

Attractive Lifestyle Drives Growth

Jacksonville is North Florida’s largest MSA with a population of 1.5 million and is the sixth-fastest-growing MSA in the country.[iii] From 2013 to 2018, Jacksonville’s population grew by over 10%, far outpacing the national average of 3.5%.[iv] According to Colliers International, the primary growth driver is in-migration, fueled by the region’s relative affordability, strong demographics, skilled labor pool, high quality of life, and the state’s business/tax-friendly attitude. EMSI, a labor market analytics firm, ranked Jacksonville as the #1 city for talent acquisitions last year, and Forbes named Jacksonville as the #2 best city for young professionals.[v]

It’s Where the Jobs Are

Bordering the Florida/Georgia line, the Jacksonville region is central to the booming Southeast, and naturally positioned for growth. According to the Jacksonville region’s economic development agency, one in every six jobs is in the health and sciences sector. The region’s healthcare landscape includes Mayo Clinic, a Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, and cutting-edge medical companies including Medtronic, McKesson, Availity, and Forcura.

In addition to healthcare, job growth is found in manufacturing, logistics, financial services, and technology. Jacksonville is now home to over eighty national/divisional headquarters, three Fortune 500, and five Fortune 1000 companies.

Strong Multifamily Market

Colliers International reported that the Jacksonville multifamily market continued its strong record of growth in the final months of 2019—with Q4 marking the 19th consecutive quarter that overall multifamily occupancy remained above 94%.[vi] And Mashvisor, in its review of top Florida multifamily markets, ranked Jacksonville #4, with a multifamily cap rate of 2.0%. [vii]

Resilient Multifamily Market

According to YardiMatrix, the Jacksonville metro area ranks #3 in terms of investment activity, with 11 deals closed in the first four months of 2020 for a total of $349 million, up 50 percent from the same time last year.[viii] By year’s end, developers are projected to deliver more than 3,000 units in Jacksonville, but that will depend on the overall impact that the pandemic has on construction activity. Early indications are that the region’s construction sector remains strong, with Jacksonville being the only MSA in Florida to show a rise in construction employment between March and April, the height of the pandemic shutdown.[ix] CBRE, which cited Jacksonville as one of the best opportunities for achieving expected revenues and seeing solid market performance in 2021, also noted that multifamily has weathered the 2020 recession better than most property sectors and is looking at a quicker rebound next year. [x]

The Opportunity

Lloyd Jones, LLC has extensive experience as an investor, owner, and manager in the Jacksonville multifamily market. We have worked with investors to find the right multifamily property to generate the best possible returns for four decades, through numerous economic cycles. If you are looking to capitalize on multifamily opportunities in the Jacksonville market, please let us know. To learn more, visit https://www.ljasl.wpengine.com/

[i] https://www2.colliers.com/en/research/jacksonville/q4-multifamily-report-2019

[ii] https://www.cbre.us/research-and-reports/2021-US-Real-Estate-Market-Outlook-Multifamily

[iii] https://jaxusa.org/tools-resources/rankings/

[iv] https://www.globest.com/2020/02/11/jacksonvilles-multifamily-sales-cross-1b-mark/

[v] https://jaxusa.org/industry/headquarters/

[vi] https://www.globest.com/2020/02/11/jacksonvilles-multifamily-sales-cross-1b-mark/

[vii] https://www.mashvisor.com/blog/how-to-find-multi-family-homes-for-sale-in-florida/

[viii] https://www.multihousingnews.com/post/top-5-florida-markets-for-transaction-activity/

[ix] https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/jacksonville-only-area-in-state-to-show-a-rise-in-construction-employment-between-march-and-april

[x] https://reintelligent.com/cbre-outlook-quicker-rebound-expected-for-multifamily-in-2021/

A Miami firm acquired a 15-year-old apartment complex in Jacksonville for $40.8 million, the Jacksonville Times-Union newspaper.

Lloyd Jones Capital, a Miami-based rental property investment firm, acquired the 282-unit Deerwood Park complex for about $145,000 per apartment.

A spokeswoman for Lloyd Jones Capital told the Times-Union that the firm plans to remodel the clubhouse at Deerwood Park and upgrade apartment interiors.

Lloyd Jones owns to other Jacksonville-area apartment complexes called The Meeting House at Collins Cove and Laurel Pointe.
In a press release, Lloyd Jones said its latest apartment-complex acquisition in the Jacksonville area is located in the Deerwood Office Park, which has 5.2 million square feet of office space and houses some of area’s largest employers.

Lloyd Jones also said in the release that its acquisition of the Deerwood Park apartment complex brought to nearly 5,000 the number of apartment units the firm owns. [Jacksonville Times-Union]  — Mike Seemuth
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