TIAA sells Pasadena apartment complex for $154M to Panda Express family

Trio apartments in Pasadena and Peggy and Andrew Cherng
Trio apartments in Pasadena and Peggy and Andrew Cherng

Global financial services giant TIAA has sold a Pasadena apartment complex for $154 million to the Cherng Family Trust, a family investment office headed by Panda Express co-founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng, The Real Deal has learned.

TIAA paid $112.25 million for the complex, known as the Trio apartments in 2011, records show. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment, and a representative for Cherng could not immediately be reached.

The deal equates to a sales price of approximately $450 per square foot, or or $506,579 per unit.

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The 340,944-square-foot property, at 44 North Madison Avenue, comprises 304 apartments above 14,357 square feet of retail space.

The Cherngs, whose Panda empire is a $2.5 billion business with nearly 2,000 locations, have been making moves into new investment categories. Earlier this year, they hired Warren Woo and Carey Do Kim, formerly of Breakaway Capital and Wells Fargo respectively, to help expand their alternative investment platform, including their real estate investments.

Forbes pegs the Cherngs’ net worth at $2.8 billion.