Singaporean firm buys 201-unit DTLA complex for $110M

Singapore-based Mapletree Investments bought a 201-unit corporate housing complex in Downtown Los Angeles in an off-market, all-cash deal for $110 million, or about $547,000 per unit, according to multiple sources.

The seller was an entity connected to Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Corp., property records show. The sale was confirmed by a spokesperson for Oakwood Worldwide, the Mapletree affiliate that will manage the property.

Lennar purchased the development site for $12 million in January of 2014, property records show.

The brand new seven-story complex at 1001 S. Olive Street was built last year and comprises fully-furnished studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments. There’s also 4,000 square feet of retail space, which is slated for a Starbucks coffee shop.

Mapletree, through Oakwood, now owns three properties in L.A. county, including the 60-unit apartment complex at 5659 West 8th Street. The Singaporean firm acquired Oakwood for an undisclosed sum in February.

Hiew Yoon Khong, Mapletree’s CEO, has said he plans to ramp up the company’s corporate housing business.

“Mapletree intends to step up the acquisition and development of corporate housing and serviced apartment assets that will add to our earnings streams,” he said in February.” We will be looking at markets across the US, Europe and Asia Pacific.”