Bradenton's Palm Cove condo units sell for $31 million

BRADENTON -- The majority of a 348-unit apartment complex converted to condos in the mid-2000s then largely put back out for rent following the 2008 housing crash has sold to a Minnesota investor for $31.6 million.

The deal, inked on Jan. 6, puts 302 of the 348 units at 4550 47th St W. known as the Palm Cove Apartments in the hands of the Riley Family Corporation, according to Florida and Minnesota state records. The remaining 50 units in the 20 building-complex are owned by individuals who purchased them largely between 2006 and 2008.

The seller in the transaction was Bradenton PC LLC, a company linked to the Mattoni Group of Miami and managed by property companies located in New York City and Las Vegas. It has owned the Palm Cove units since 2011, when it acquired it from several banks that had foreclosed on the property.

Currently advertised as apartments, the one-, two- and three-bedroom units rent for monthly rates between $781 and $1,414. Mixed in with those rental units are condos that sold for prices as high as $144,500 in 2006.

The Riley Family Corporation, which owns at least one more apartment complex in Minnesota, acquired its 29-year-old Palm Cove units at a significant discount from that pricing. It paid an average of about $105,000 each, well below the November median condo price in Manatee County of $163,600. All the units purchased by the company are classed by Manatee County as condos.

However, Manatee apartment units have been selling for much less, on average. Figures generated by commercial real estate information firm CoStar show the average selling price of an apartment unit in Manatee County to be $58,193 as of the third quarter of 2015.

Palm Cove was one of a number of local apartment complexes to be converted to condos when housing prices started skyrocketing in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In several instances, converters made a number of quick sales, but then wound up holding onto the majority of the units when condo sales all but ceased in 2008.

One of those owners, MK Equity Corp. of Chicago, sold 153 units at Sanctuary Walk in Bradenton for about $9 million in June.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter@MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Bradenton's Palm Cove condo units sell for $31 million ."