Corinthian Real Estate bought 39 condos at the 44-unit Eden House in Hollywood for $5.8 million, as it pursues its strategy of buying smaller, older properties that it can renovate.
Records show the seller is Eden House Group, a Canadian company managed by Thierry Riahi.
The two-story property at 3601 Van Buren Street includes two buildings, built in 1966, according to property records. The remaining five units are individually owned. The deal equates to $148,718 per unit.
Eden House Group bought the property in September 2012 from AJ Conversions for $2.65 million, records show.
All but one of the 39 units is occupied, although rents are 15 percent below market rate, said Matt Miller, Corinthian’s principal. Roughly half of the units are 750-square-foot one-bedroom units, and the others are 1,025-square-foot two-bedroom units.
The group plans to renovate interiors, as tenants end their leases, and bring rents up to market, he added.
Founded this past summer, Miami-based Corinthian is focusing on 20- to 175-unit Class B and C properties across South Florida to which it can add value through renovations, Miller said.
The buildings are largely workforce housing, which was hard hit by the economic downturn of the past year in light of massive layoffs and closures of restaurants and hotels. That’s put pressure on the landlords, opening the door for Corinthian to aggregate a portfolio.
“Covid caused two things. One, tenants are not paying rent, and two, landlords couldn’t evict them because of moratoriums. It’s created unique challenges for less sophisticated owner-operators or mom-and-pops that aren’t as well capitalized,” Miller said. “That’s creating some sort of urgency and thinking of, ‘How do I fix my problem here?’ and that’s creating unique opportunities to buy assets at a relatively attractive accessibility.”
Corinthian wants to aggregate a portfolio of more than 1,000 units in South Florida, said Miller, who declined to identify properties the group has purchased so far, only saying another recent acquisition was in Coral Springs.
The firm isn’t the only one making a play on less than glitzy multifamily properties in Broward County. GDF Properties, also based in Miami, earlier this month bought 29 buildings totaling 189 units in Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale for $17.3 million.
They are older buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. GDF plans to add value through improvements, and raise rents.
Hollywood has seen some top-dollar deals, as well, in recent months. In January, Cortland Partners, based in Atlanta, bought the 336-unit Parc Station at 1900 to 2300 North 29th Avenue for $91.7 million.
The city also is undergoing some apartment construction, as Affiliated Development just received city approval for its 18-story The Tropic, where half of the 208 units will be workforce housing, targeting police officers, nurses and teachers.