Here’s what LA’s $10M-$30M investment sales market looked like last week

In the world of mid-market L.A. investment sales last week, two mid-century Santa Monica apartment buildings traded hands, one to a private investor and another to local firm Watt Companies. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s Merlone Geier Partners bought the land underneath its retail asset at 345 and 401 S. Lake Avenue for $15.1 million.

1. In Santa Monica, a 25-unit apartment building traded hands for $12 million, or $480,000 per unit. The buyer is a private investor based in Los Angeles, according to the deal’s brokerage, Marcus & Millichap. The seller was the Vanbuskirk Family Trust, which acquired the property for $7.1 million in 2007, property records show. Tony Azzi and Rabbie Banafsheha brokered both sides of the deal. The complex at 1015 3rd Street was built in 1954 and comprises only one-bedroom, one-bathroom units.

2. In Nearby Ocean Park, an LLC connected to the Santa Monica-based Watt Companies acquired a 31-unit apartment building for $17.4 million, or $562,097 per unit. The seller of the 1969-built complex is an affiliate of Hill Street Realty. Richard Ringer, also of Marcus & Millichap, represented Hill Street and procured the buyer. The property, at 2727 6th Street, comprises 17 one-bedroom units and 14 two-bedroom units and was last renovated in 2015, Ringer said in a statement.

3. In Pasadena, Merlone Geier Partners bought the land underneath its 131,000-square-foot retail asset at 345 and 401 S. Lake Avenue for $15.1 million, The Real Deal reported Monday. The seller was retail giant Macy’s, which operates a store in another part of the same retail complex. Merlone already owned the leasehold, which it acquired for $31.1 million from Vornado Realty Trust three years ago. Over 60 years remain on the lease term, according to Hanley Investment Group, which represented Macy’s. Merlone Geier was represented in-house.