Bayfair Development Grabs 10-Acre Site in Tampa Area for Development of M-F Units

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Bayfair Development L.L.C. is about to bring brand new apartment residences to the St. Petersburg, Fla., market. The development company just acquired a 10-acre parcel for the project, snapping up the land from REDUS Florida Land in a deal orchestrated by commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

Bayfair is planning 150 market-rate apartments at Oak St. and Gandy Blvd.; however, per the site’s current zoning guidelines, the developer could have built 150 condominiums. But it’s the local apartment market that is a hotbed of development.

“This is a well-located Tampa Bay-area site that will bring much-needed residential housing to the marketplace,” Bruce Erhardt executive director with C&W said in a prepared statement.

The occupancy level in the area has recorded average occupancy rates in the 94 percent range for the last two years, according to a first quarter report by MPF Research.

Looking at the long-vacant property’s sales history, Bayfair certainly got a deal on the land for its latest project. The developer paid under $1 million for the site, which last traded in 2005 for nearly $3.5 million. Bayfair knows what it’s doing; the company has been developing in the Tampa market for the last quarter-century.