Kimberly S. LeCompte, left, and Stephanie Jimenez, right, of Greenberg Traurig. Courtesy photos

Kimberly LeCompte has been an attorney for The Related Group for 15 years — experience that allowed her to successfully represent the real estate giant in the South Florida's biggest multifamily sale so far this year.

The Greenberg Traurig shareholder worked with associate Stephanie Jimenez, both based in Miami, to close the sale of two garden-style apartment communities south of Doral for $209 million, or $290,000 per unit for the 360-unit complexes.

The duo represented the sellers' joint venture of Jorge Perez's Related Group and Boston-based equity partner Rockpoint Group LLC in the deal that closed May 14.

“It's a very longstanding relationship with Related and with Rockpoint, which obviously helps in this transaction, in all of the transactions,” said LeCompte, adding she has been representing Rockpoint for at least five years.

The Blackstone Group LP, a New York-based private equity and alternative asset management company, bought Doral View in the 900 block of Northwest 97th Ave. and the next-door Town Fontainebleau Lakes in the 1000 block of Northwest 87th Ave. in the Fontainebleau neighborhood.

The deal illustrates the strength of the South Florida multifamily market, including suburban apartment communities. The trend is backed by population growth, the prohibitive cost for first-time home buyers and an overall switch in attitudes led by millennials who prefer renting to owning.

This has driven demand for apartments in a switch from pre-recession times when the hype was over condominiums.

Aside from catching the eye of investors like Blackstone, led by Stephen Schwarzman, the region's multifamily market has prompted some condo developers to switch to rentals during construction.

The challenge with this transaction for LeCompte and Jimenez didn't stem from the deal's big dollar value. Instead, they had to close in a truly tight time frame: one week.

The timing was much tighter than usual for a deal of this size, which generally would involve up to a month for due diligence period and another month to get to the closing.

“There was a lot that needed to happen between the 7th and the 14th in order to get it done,” LeCompte said, adding the timing was a function of the parties' agreement. ”It's the same as any closing. It's just condensed. Normally, a closing is a due diligence period and then a closing period.”

The duo had to negotiate transfer documents and execute other paperwork quickly.

To ease some of the rush, Blackstone did its due diligence in advance and during the negotiation of the purchase and sale agreement.

Doral View is a luxury multifamily community, and Town Fontainebleau Lakes is branded as resort-inspired living, according to the communities' websites.

At Doral View, a one bedroom at nearly 700 square feet rents for $1,565 a month, and a bigger one bedroom goes for $1,655, according to its website. Two-bedroom units range from $1,850 to $2,165 a month, and a three-bedroom unit is $2,345.

At Town Fontainebleau Lakes, one bedrooms range from $1,665 to $1,720, two bedrooms for $1,975 to $1,975,  and three bedrooms for $2,345, the website said.

Doral View is 428,212 square feet on 17.6 acres, and Town Fontainebleau is 438,387 square feet on 16 acres, according to the Miami-Dade County property records.

LeCompte secured construction financing for both communities. Doral View was built in 2014 and Town Fontainebleau in 2016.

Much of Related's South Florida work is residential towers near downtown MIami. It built the four-condo Paraiso complex in Miami's Edgewater.

Related also develops suburban, garden-style apartments.

“It has a huge noncondo multifamily wing of it that mainly operates more in the more central and northern counties of Florida,” LeCompte said.

Related stories: 

South Florida Multifamily Market Trending Toward Apartments After Years of Condo Focus