The $55.6 million sale of a Pembroke Pines multifamily complex was like coming full circle on the project for the Cushman & Wakefield team that closed the transaction.

Miami-based Lloyd Jones LLC bought the garden-style, 206-unit Ventura Pointe on Oct. 1 from Eastwind Development LLC, the Palm Beach Gardens-based developer of the complex.

Eastwind was represented by Cushman & Wakefield vice chairman Robert Given, executive managing director Troy Ballard, executive managing director Zachary Sackley and director Neal Victor, all based in Fort Lauderdale.

Three years ago, many of the same brokers were involved when Eastwind bought the 10-acre property with plans to build Ventura Pointe. Eastwind paid $6.3 million for the tract in April 2016.

Given and Sackley, then with Cushman & Wakefield, represented the land seller. Ballard, then with ARA Newmark, represented Eastwind on the land purchase.

"It was a deal the three of us did together kind of on opposite sides of the transaction" when Eastland bought the land, Ballard said. This made the sale of the completed Ventura Pointe all the more significant for the team.

"It's always very meaningful to us when we can help our clients execute their business plans from start to finish," Given said in a news release.

Ventura Pointe has two four-story buildings and two five-story buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

It's branded as a luxury community with rents starting at $1,685 for one bedroom, $1,899 for two bedrooms and $2,225 for three bedrooms, according to its website. The average unit size is 958 square feet with 9-foot ceilings.

Amenities include a pool, outdoor kitchen and grills, a lounge with billiards, gym, conference room and 2-acre park. It was 95% leased at the time of sale.

Ventura Pointe sits on 10 acres southeast of University Drive and Sheridan Street at 7850 Pasadena Blvd.

Buyer Lloyd Jones is a Miami-based real estate investment, development and management company that focuses on multifamily and senior housing in the Southeastern U.S. and Texas.

The deal, which breaks down to $270,000 per unit, comes in a strong multifamily market with population growth and residents opting to rent instead of buy.

Over $1.2 billion of multifamily communities have sold in the region this year, excluding trades of apartments totaling less than 10,000 square feet, according to JLL.

With that sales volume, it was no surprise that Ventura Pointe generated interest from private and institutional groups as well as foreign buyers when it went on the market last spring. Cushman & Wakefield did 30 property tours and received 12 offers, Ballard said.

The property had something else going for it prompting a competitive pool of buyers. Its price is in the mid-$50 million range made it more attainable to more potential buyers when $90 million is a more common multifamily asking price.

"One of the things that was attractive was the deal size. This deal in the $50 and $60 million range is an attractive deal size that appeals to both institutional investors and to private capital," Ballard said. "A lot of the new development deals we are seeing are $90 million, $100 million plus. But some of those get out of the reach for some of the private-type of buyers, so we had interest from both private and institutional groups and foreign capital."

Ventura Pointe is within walking distance of a soon-to-open Lucky's Market and the 301-bed Memorial Hospital Pembroke. It is within five miles of Florida's Turnpike and Nova Southeastern University's main campus in Davie.

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