Excelsa Properties Acquires 477-Unit Multifamily Community in St Petersburg, Florida

The garden-style multifamily property boasts 36 residential buildings and a clubhouse/leasing center, in addition to an attractive amenity set such as a 24-hour fully-equipped fitness center, 3 resort-style pools, two dog parks, and a picnic area. Built in 1972, this well-maintained property has undergone two renovations thus far, keeping the property in excellent condition. Excelsa sees significant additional value-add upside potential and plans to invest $8 million in capital improvements.

“The Drake at St. Pete is located in the booming Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA, known for its proximity to entertainment, healthcare, and higher educational institutions,” said David Fletcher, managing director at Excelsa Properties. “This positions the property as a centerpiece for connectivity, attracting high-quality tenants.”

This prosperous economic hub with solid demographics hosts a highly-skilled workforce and 6+ Fortune 500 companies, including two headquarters. Within a 15-minute drive from the property, $5+ billion worth of transformative urban developments are underway, projected to create 23k+ in employment opportunities.

“From the start, the combination of compelling pricing, a very attractive location, and zero directly competing properties excited us about The Drake at St. Pete. Ultimately, after proving out the profitable value-add proposition, we closed the deal with conservative debt financing, which provides accretive leverage,” said David Fletcher, managing director at Excelsa Properties. “The current combination of asset pricing and debt financing terms is yielding very attractive acquisitions in value-add multifamily. Excelsa’s ability to commit to purchases with discretionary funds and to avoid risky and unreliable debt structures has allowed us to be very selective and acquire one of the most compelling deals we have seen in the last year.”

“The Drake is located in a submarket that is currently facing limited forecasted supply of multifamily units as new construction in the area is expected to have higher costs” added Jonathan Woods, COO at Excelsa Properties. “This puts The Drake at an advantage, as its occupancy rate remains high and stable, even during slower leasing periods.”

About Excelsa Properties



Excelsa Properties is a real estate asset manager with a focus on multifamily investments in the United States.  It has $300 million in total equity under management.  Excelsa closed its second multifamily fund, Excelsa US Real Estate II, LP, on May 6, 2022.