Here Are The Details On CFH's Miramar Gamble

What can $5M buy you in South Florida multifamily today? An estimated additional $200/month in rents.

CFH Group's latest value-add move is the remodeling of The Ashlar, a 480-unit apartment campus at 8440 Sherman Circle N in Miramar that's recently been rebranded Lake Vista Apartments.

We spoke with CFH's Nathan Vedrani (below), who tells us the $5M redo—from upgraded finishes and a new clubhouse, yoga studio and cyber lounge—should help pump rents from $1,050/month to $1,250/month for a one-bedroom and $1,310/month to $1,500/month for a two-bedroom.

Purchased last week for about $108k/unit, Nathan says the firm will be all-in on the apartment at $121k/unit, with rents projected to climb just shy of 20% for the price. Not bad for a vintage 1980s garden-style apartment complex.

That's how CFH typically invests in multifamily in South Florida—buy broken, fix and hold, earning returns for its family money investors over the long haul. But even Nathan admits in today's investment market—where cap rates even for suburban apartments are squeezed—it's hard to find that right deal.

“I probably couldn't re-create another deal like this,” he says. But Nathan says CFH has the luxury to wait. In what he sees as the eighth inning of this multifamily cycle, he expects some forced selling from fund buyers in 18 to 24 months—at cap rates higher than what those funds likely paid for the property. “I wouldn't say we're a bottom feeder at all,” he says. “But we're very opportunistic.”