Los Angeles, Japanese Investors Snap Up Bay Area Apartments
Investors thousands of miles apart both landed in Pleasant Hill, California, recently.
Los Angeles-based Vista Investment Group and Tokyu Land US Corp., a subsidiary of Japanese developer Tokyu Land Corp., have acquired the Northridge Apartments, a 221-unit multifamily property in the East Bay, for $91M, the companies said Thursday.
The sale by previous owner Equity Residential follows over 20 years of continuous ownership and marks the first partnership for Vista and Tokyu. Members of Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented Equity Residential in the transaction.
Pleasant Hill and neighboring cities offer a level of affordability no longer found in either San Francisco or Oakland. Average asking rents across unit types in Contra Costa County finished last year at $2,174, much less than the $3,693 found in San Francisco and $2,511 in Alameda County, Kidder Mathews data shows.
“Renters who have been priced out of expensive markets like San Francisco and Oakland are migrating to the East Bay in search of more affordable alternatives,” Vista Investment Group President Jonathan Barach said in a statement.
Built in 1974 and located at 235 Camelback Road, the Northridge Apartments includes studios through three-bedrooms across 16 low-rise buildings. Vista said it plans capital improvements like upgrading common areas and amenities and renovating apartments as units roll. Current amenities include two swimming pools, a fitness center and a clubhouse, as well as proximity to Pleasant Hill Shopping Center and the Concord BART station.
The acquisition now makes about $160M worth of multifamily acquisitions on the West Coast for Vista this year. It also has about 670K SF of office space throughout the Bay Area.
IPA Executive Managing Director of Investments Stanford Jones, Senior Managing Directors Salvatore Saglimbeni and Philip Saglimbeni and Director Alex Tartaglia marketed the Northridge Apartments for Equity Residential.
