Franklin Street sold a Wilton Manors apartment building for $156,250 a unit — a record for a multifamily sale this year in the city, the real estate firm said.

Franklin Street senior vice president of investment sales Gregory Matus, senior associate Dan Dratch and associate AJ Stanford, all based in Plantation, represented the seller of the 16-unit Waters Edge Apartments at 550 NE 20th St.

Dratch declined to disclose the seller and buyer.

Broward County and state records show ACS 550 LLC, an affiliate of brothers Andrew and Corey Shader, bought the asset for $2.5 million from Waters Edge Wilton Manors LLC.

The Shaders have been accumulating a portfolio in Broward, scooping up properties through affiliated limited liability companies. Another of their recent acquisitions is the two-building retail and residential Seagrape Commons in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea for $6.75 million in June. In May, they bought a four-unit multifamily building at 801 SW 29th St. in Fort Lauderdale for $520,000, according to the county property appraiser's office.

The Wilton Manors apartments were a value-add investment, or the tactic of buying property, improving it, and then increasing its value and rents.

“What the new buyer plans on doing is capitalizing on the growing trend of buying assets such as this that are in need of updating the kitchens, bathrooms and just exterior beautification,” Dratch said. “They are going to be able to push the rents probably 20 to 30 percent more than they are currently getting now.”

The average rent now is $1,200 a month, but that is to increase to $1,400 to $1,500 once improvements on the building are finished, Dratch said, adding that he doesn't know how much the buyer will invest in improvements.

“The name of the game is sourcing these opportunities where they know the kitchen, the bathroom, the tiles, all that stuff needs to be updated and that in turn is going to increase the value of the property once the work gets done,” he said.

The record per unit price for Wilton Manors was achieved in part thanks to the building's features and also to Franklin Street's work.

The property is waterfront, first-story units have private courtyards, second-story units have balconies, and the building is concrete with a concrete roof, unlike the majority of similar buildings in the area that have wood-frame roofs, Dratch said.

“It's one of the attributes that set this building apart from some of the other buildings that are in the neighborhood,” he said.

Franklin Street also has a wide reach to clients because it provides multiple real estate services, including property management and insurance.

“Coinciding with that we are just willing to work that hard to push value for our owners. This was done through just countless and countless phone calls, property tours, pushing offers,” Dratch said.

Seventeen buyers put in an offer, creating competition for the asset and pushing up the price.

Waters Edge Apartments was 100 percent occupied when sold.