ECI Group announces its acquisition of Makara Orlando Apartments, a 228-unit, nine-building, Class A apartment community in rapidly growing East Orlando. The community was developed by RangeWater Real Estate and delivered in mid-2021.
“This exchange-driven acquisition demonstrates ECI’s strategy of recycling capital from older properties into newer properties and expanding our geographic footprint as we accomplish that,” said James Baugnon, President and CIO at ECI. “This is the third deal for us using this strategy in 2021. This repositioning of our portfolio has also accelerated our growth in Florida, reflecting our confidence in the underlying demand drivers in that state.” ECI recently hired a regional development partner for its Florida investments and currently owns five operating assets and recently broke ground on a new development, Parc Madison, in Tampa.
Makara Orlando Apartments is located on a unique infill site on University Drive close to an abundance of destination retail, restaurant and entertainment venues including Waterford Lakes Town Center, Baldwin Park and Downtown Orlando. The gated, secured-access community features top-of-the-market luxury amenities including a clubhouse, freestanding garages, resort-style pool, modern, 24-hour fitness club, resident lounge with kitchen and billiards and a large dog park. The community is located minutes from the University of Central Florida, the Central Florida Research Park, Siemens and Lockheed Martin. Makara was developed in 2020/2021 with the first units delivering in June 2021 and has averaged 40 leases per month since then.
Makara’s one-, two-, and three-bedroom units feature open-concept floor plans with gourmet kitchens, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and islands, upgraded lighting, bright subway tile showers and in-unit washers and dryers.
ECI extends its appreciation to Newmark’s Central Florida team led by Senior Managing Director Scott Ramey, Associate Brad Downing and Associate Paul Grant for their representation of RangeWater Real Estate.
