GDC sells two apartment communities for $67m.

Westchester-based investment, management and development firm, GDC Properties Inc., recently completed the sale of two Florida apartment communities to investment firm Ashkenazy & Agus Ventures LLC, for a total of $67.4 million, announces William Ingraham, president of GDC Properties.

The first property, Courtney Place Apartments, at 4300 South Kirkman Road in Orlando, sold for $27 million. Built in 1997, the 238-unit community includes a fitness center, pool, resort-style clubhouse and detached garages. The second property, Courtney Village at 10380 Foxtrail Road South in Royal Palm Beach, sold for $40.4 million. Built in 2001, the 232-unit gated community has luxury amenities and an exceptionally desirable location near trendy downtown West Palm Beach.

GDC Properties was represented by Greg Engler, principal, Engler Financial Group (EFG), and the buyers, Ashkenazy & Agus Ventures LLC, was self-represented.

"These sales represent a continuation of our diversification strategy," says Mr. Ingraham. "The new owners are well known for their successful conversions of rental properties to condominiums and both of these apartment communities offer tremendous opportunities in terms of physical assets, locations and amenities."

In October, GDC Properties sold four other rental communities in Florida: The Enclave at Doral for $57,300,000; Mirasol at Celebration for $84,000,000; The Preserve at Coconut Creek for $50,048,000; and Hawthorne Place for $22,250,000. The Mirasol at Celebration transaction represented the highest per unit sales price in the history of the state. GDC also recently sold a property in Atlanta, Hawthorne Gates, for $21,300,000.

"The reallocation of our asset portfolio is progressing well," adds Mr. Ingraham. "We are meeting our goals by disposing of some of our residential assets and replacing them with commercial assets."

Concurrent to the recent dispositions, GDC Properties acquired a power center in Mount Vernon, the East Sandford Boulevard Shopping Center, for $68.5 million, and a portfolio of five Publix-anchored shopping centers and one un-anchored center in the Atlanta MSA from the Watkins Retail Group for $82.3 million.