Fairfield Residential’s Chairman and CEO Greg Pinkalla with Morea Apartments at 602 North Federal Highway in Pompano Beach (Morea Apartments, Fairfield Residential)
The Benjamin Companies bought the newly built Morea Apartments in Pompano Beach for $145.5 million, underscoring the robust market for multifamily investment in South Florida.
Garden City, New York-based Benjamin bought the property at 601 North Federal Highway from an entity tied to San Diego-based Fairfield Residential, according to a deed. The buyer used two affiliates, with one purchasing 80 percent of the interest in the property and the other the remaining 20 percent.
Benjamin’s affiliates also borrowed $75 million from New York Life Insurance Company for the purchase, records show.
The deal for the 327-apartment Morea breaks down to $444,954 per unit.
Fairfield paid $7.7 million for the nearly 3-acre development site in 2018, property records show. The company scored a $56.5 million construction loan in 2019 and completed the six-story building in 2021.
Morea offers studios and one- to three-bedroom units, with monthly rents ranging from $2,590 to $4,555, according to Apartments.com. The pet-friendly community includes a sixth-floor skydeck overlooking the nearby Pompano Beach Community Park.
In addition to developing apartments, Fairfield, led by Chairman and CEO Greg Pinkalla, manages properties, and has a portfolio of 40,600 units across 31 markets nationwide, according to its website.
The firm’s development projects also span the U.S. It filed an application with Culver City, California for a 362-unit luxury rental project in June.
Benjamin Companies, led by President Deborah Benjamin and CEO Denise Coyle, was founded in the 1960s with a focus on building affordable housing, and has since expanded to development and management of residential, retail and office real estate, according to its website.
The South Florida multifamily market is prospering because of high demand, allowing skyrocketing rents and promoting investment sales.
In another recent Pompano Beach multifamily deal, Ivanhoé Cambridge bought the Avana Bayview community for $73.5 million in November, as part of a nationwide $3.6 billion rental portfolio acquisition from Greystar.
