Massachusetts firm buys Tampa’s Element apartment tower

Tampa Bay Times
October 20, 2017
By Richard Danielson

TAMPA — Downtown Tampa’s Element apartment tower sold this week to a Massachusetts-based real estate investment company that plans to upgrade the skyscraper’s amenities and operate it long-term as a rental community.

“A gorgeous beacon for downtown Tampa,” Northland Investment Corp. chief investment officer Matthew Gottesdiener said of the 35-story Element at 808 N Franklin St., overlooking Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. “We were looking for an opportunity to acquire a best in class in downtown high rise.”

The sale closed Thursday. Gottesdiener said the company doesn’t discuss what it pays for property, and a deed had not been filed with Hillsborough County as of late Friday afternoon. The Tampa Bay Business Journal reported a purchase price of $112.4 million.

The Element, with 395 apartments, last sold in 2013 for $98 million to a company tied to the Miami-based Crescent Heights real estate firm. It is the fifth acquisition in as many months for Northland, which Gottesdiener said is now Florida’s second-largest owner-operator of market-rate multifamily residential complexes, with 32 properties and 9,122 units.

At 460 feet, the Element is one of Tampa’s tallest buildings, with a distinctive postmodern style and a sleek glassy exterior. Though built less than 10 years ago, in 2009, the building’s interiors, pool deck, fitness center and club room could all use upgrades, Gottesdiener said.

“We’ll be investing millions in the property in coming years,” he said. That said, there are no plans to raise rents, convert the units to condominiums or sell the tower again anytime soon. “We look for investments that are built to last,” he said.

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