The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has expanded its real estate holdings in South Florida with the acquisition of a 384-unit apartment complex in Boca Raton for $152.5 million. The purchase was made through Property Reserve, the church’s Salt Lake City-based investment arm that manages reserve funds by investing in commercial properties.
Records and real estate database Vizzda show that Property Reserve bought the Del Ola complex at 7801 North Federal Highway from an affiliate of Clarion Partners, a New York firm led by David Gilbert. The price amounts to more than $397,100 per unit. Del Ola, completed in 2012 and 2013, includes 19 three-story apartment buildings, a two-story clubhouse, and five one-story garages on a 17.4-acre site.
Clarion Partners had acquired Del Ola for $120.8 million in 2019. The apartments range from one-bedroom to three-bedroom units, with monthly rents listed between $2,169 and $4,802.
Property Reserve is headed by Ashley Powell and has been active in South Florida since 2023. Its portfolio includes Beacon Logistics Park—a 1.3 million-square-foot industrial campus on 75 acres in Hialeah—which it purchased from Codina Partners and Affinius Capital through several transactions totaling over $230 million. Other recent acquisitions include the eight-story Ellsworth apartment building in Plantation for $133 million and the Elan Polo Gardens near Wellington for $102.4 million.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has drawn attention regarding its large-scale property investments and limited financial transparency due to minimal public disclosure requirements. In 2023, both the church and its investment manager Ensign Peak Advisors settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission over claims that their investment portfolio was concealed using about a dozen limited liability companies; they paid settlements of $1 million and $4 million respectively without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
Another church investment entity, Farmland Reserve, spent $289 million last year acquiring farms across the United States—including some in Florida—according to reporting by the New York Post.
South Florida’s multifamily property market has seen increased activity recently despite higher interest rates and stagnant or declining rent growth trends. Many buyers are relying on Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loans, insurance company financing, assuming sellers’ existing debt, or making all-cash purchases to complete deals under current market conditions (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/07/15/south-florida-multifamily-investment-sales-are-up-despite-flat-rent-growth/). For this transaction involving Del Ola, Property Reserve did not record a mortgage.
Other recent notable sales include AvalonBay Communities’ purchase of Avalon Coconut Creek—a 270-unit complex—for $98.3 million without recording a mortgage; Favo Capital’s acquisition of the 22-story 1818 Park tower for $190 million involved an all-stock deal combined with assumption of liabilities (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/08/01/favo-capital-buys-hollywoods-1818-park-apartment-tower-for-190m-in-all-stock-deal/).
