LA County’s top 5 multifamily investment sales in April

Bell Partners’ $97M purchase in Pasadena led the pack

Bell Pasadena, with Bell Partners' CEO Jon D. Bell
Bell Pasadena, with Bell Partners' CEO Jon D. Bell

The five biggest multifamily investment sales in Los Angeles County in April combined for over $206 million, down from last month’s $274 million total.

Bell Partners, based in North Carolina, led the pack in April with its $97 million acquisition of a Pasadena apartment complex. The purchase price has not been previously reported. Woodbridge Group of Companies, the embattled real estate firm whose executive was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, also made some waves last month. The company claimed the third spot on the list with its $21.5 million sale of a complex in the San Fernando Valley.

The April figures were compiled from property records by Real Capital Analytics.

1. Bell Pasadena — Bell Partners | $97.3 million

The acquisition of the 212-unit Pasadena apartment complex was the priciest multifamily sale in L.A. County. Hines, which completed the building in 2016, was the seller. Bell Partners is based in Greensboro, N.C. Located at 3330 N. Foothill Boulevard, the Bell Pasadena has 339 parking spaces, a gym, yoga studio, cafe and pet spa. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the deal.

2. Parc@5 — Marianne J. Moy | $37.5 million

An LLC controlled by Marianna J. Moy purchased the apartment complex in Downey for $37.5 million from a joint venture of Benedict Canyon Equities and LEM Capital. It last traded for $23.4 million in 2014, when the joint venture bought it from Chicago’s Laramar Group. The apartment building includes 104 units, which translates to $360,600 per unit. Located at 9140 Brookshire Avenue, the 1965-built apartment building has a distinct mid-century look. Moy, an Encino-based investor who also owns the Glendale Fashion Center, is listed as the buyer’s registered agent.

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3. Granada Pointe — Barakat Family Trust | $21.5 million

A family trust took one of the troubled Woodbridge Group properties off former executive Robert Shapiro’s hands last week for just over $21 million. The Van Nuys-based Adil A. Barakat Family Trust, which owns at least nine other multifamily properties around L.A. and the Inland Empire, acquired the 52-unit complex, plus a $10.5 million mortgage with Seattle’s HomeStreet Bank. Woodbridge sold the property through one of its many LLCs. It had purchased the building around a year ago through a different entity for $19.5 million. The company is the subject of an SEC probe, which is investigating a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme led by Shapiro.

4. Ocean Center Building — Pacific6 | $18 million

Pacific6, a Long Beach-based firm, paid $18 million for the historic Ocean Center Building at 110 W. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. Levy Affiliated Holdings sold the 74-unit building, which was designed by the same architect behind the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood: Raymond M. Kennedy. The building was also once part of the Pike Amusement Zone and it’s famous “Walk of a Thousand Lights.” The new owner plans to build 70 to 80 apartments while maintaining most of the wood interiors, Press Telegram reported.

5. 4956 Laurel Canyon Boulevard — PUR Laurel | $17.9M

An entity named PUR Laurel paid $17.9 million to Tom Redfern & Associates for the 56-unit apartment complex in Valley Village. The buyer is tied to Pacific Urban Residential, a West Coast apartment investor based in Northern California. The 1985-built property spans five floors. It previously sold for $12.9 million in June 2014, property records show.