Two small apartment complexes sold in recent weeks for top dollar, signaling yet more interest in multifamily properties as local rents continue their meteoric rise.

The Wilson Townhomes, a 24-unit housing complex in Costa Mesa, sold for $12.2 million or roughly $508,000 per unit, according to The Mogharebi Group, which represented the seller.

The unidentified buyer was described as a private investment group in Newport Coast.

The 61-year-old building, completed in 1961 at 1032 W Wilson St., sits on a 2-acre lot bordering Newport Beach and Huntington Beach. Each of the two-bedroom apartment homes averages 1,028 square feet in six, two-story buildings.

Amenities include a swimming pool, laundry rooms, leasing office, storage area, lush landscaping and garage parking.

“Many households are being priced out of the for-sale housing market in Orange County with median home prices exceeding $1.15 million, and yet the supply of multifamily housing simply has not caught up with demand,” said Brett Bayless, a senior vice president with TMG. “Rental demand in Costa Mesa has been strong for decades and considering the current high occupancy of 98 percent, robust forecasted household formation and lack of new supply, it’s very likely that demand will remain extremely strong in the foreseeable future.”

Bayless said the brokerage received multiple offers from a variety of investors.

In February, a local investor bought the eight-unit Chestnut Street Apartments in Los Alamitos for $3,915,000 or $489,375 per unit, according to the brokerage Marcus & Millichap. Another apartment sale in mid-January saw the 24-unit Chapman Villa Apartments in Garden Grove trade hands for $8.15 million or $339,500 per unit.

Orange County’s average monthly rent at large complexes is expected to rise this year to $2,510, up 4.6% compared with the 2019-21 period. A vacancy rate of 1.4% is among the tightest in the U.S. rental market, according to data from Marcus & Millichap.

A 16-unit apartment complex in Buena Park has sold for $5.5 million or roughly $343,000 each. (Courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield)

Buena Park apartments well for $5.5 million

A 16-unit apartment complex in Buena Park sold for $5.5 million or roughly $343,000 each, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

The garden-style property has two, two-story buildings at 8081 7th St. It was fully leased at the time of the sale, Cushman reps said.

The buyer and sellers were not identified by the brokerage. The seller, however, was described as a private partnership executing a 1031 exchange.

Mark Bridge, Jonathan Mitchell and Trey Wheeler with Cushman & Wakefield’s Multifamily Advisory Group in Irvine represented both parties in the sale.

“Given the strength of the overall apartment market in the city of Buena Park, the property offered an investor the ability to capture a great fully leased, stable community with convenient access to a wide variety of activities, transportation, and retail amenities,” said Mark Bridge, managing director at Cushman & Wakefield.

Bridge said the owner bought the property vacant in 2021 and renovated it, inside and out, before leasing the entire complex.

The 47-year-old complex debuted in 1975, and has 12 two-bedroom units and four one-bedroom units. Amenities include a gated walk-in and parking entry, on-site laundry, carports with storage and uncovered parking.

Newport Beach-based MIG Real Estate bought an 89,423-square-foot Class A industrial building in Phoenix for $17 million. (Courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield)

MIG goes east, paying $17M for Phoenix industrial

MIG Real Estate in Newport Beach has bought an 89,423-square-foot Class A industrial building in Phoenix for $17 million.

Sky Harbor Logistics Center is a multi-tenant property in the Sky Harbor Airport submarket. It was fully leased at the time of the sale.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Will Strong, Greer Oliver, Connor Nebeker-Hay and Phil Haenel represented the unidentified seller.

San Jose investment firm adds to OC portfolio

DJM has two grocery-anchored shopping centers one at Magnolia and Adams in Huntington Beach and the other at Magnolia and Warner in Fountain Valley.

The retail center at 9062 Adams Ave. is anchored by a Smart & Final Extra. The property at 17070 Magnolia St. is anchored by an Aldi and CVS drugstore.

Terms were not disclosed.

San Jose-based DJM acquired the properties as part of a portfolio from Merlone Geier through a joint venture with affiliates of Fortress Investment Group.

Chris Hoffmann, managing director of Eastdil Secured, brokered the transaction.

DJM also owns Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach, Pacific City in Huntington Beach and Bella Terra, also in Surf City.

Real estate industry people

Lisa Simeone has joined the board of directors and Ben Seager has been promoted to shareholder and principal at Irvine-based KTGY. Simeone’s appointment comes on the heels of KTGY’s acquisition in 2021 of Simeone Deary Design Group, which she founded in 2002. Seager, an 18-year veteran with KTGY, has been involved in the design, planning, and entitlement of a wide variety of residential, mixed-use, and senior housing communities.

Alan Lindeke is the new president at Santa Ana-based Home Mortgage Alliance Corp. Previously, Lindeke was in charge of legal, vendor management, quality control, licensing, and compliance at Change Home Mortgage.

Irvine City Councilmember Tammy Kim has been appointed to the board of directors at Irvine Community Land Trust, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing opportunities in the city. Elected to the city council in 2020, she also has served as finance commissioner for the city of Irvine, chairwoman of the Language Access Committee for the Orange County Registrar of Voters and was a member of the Steering Committee for the Irvine Global Village Festival.

Real estate transactions, leases and new projects, industry hires, new ventures and upcoming events are compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin. Submit items and high-resolution photos via email to Business Editor Samantha Gowen at [email protected]. Please allow at least a week for publication. All items are subject to editing for clarity and length.

Related Articles