Long Beach resi complex sells for $123M; priciest trade there this year

IMT Residential acquired the 291-unit apartment building, called Gallery 421

IMT Capital Senior Managing Director Michael Browne and Gallery 421
IMT Capital Senior Managing Director Michael Browne and Gallery 421

IMT Residential acquired a 291-unit apartment building in Long Beach for $123.4 million, making it the most expensive multifamily transaction there this year.

The seller was Lyon Capital Ventures of Newport Beach, which unloaded The Gallery 421 complex, which includes ground-floor retail, at 421 W. Broadway.

The deal represents the highest dollar amount paid per unit in Long Beach this year, at $424,000.

The rental was built in 2010 and IMT has marketed it as a luxury property with amenities including a resort-style pool with private cabanas, a theater and a yoga studio.

On-site retail includes a Starbucks, Dickey’s Barbecue and Jimmy John’s pizza shop.

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The only Long Beach transaction to top that one in the last two years was the $133 million sale of a 223-unit complex on East Ocean Boulevard last July.

The steady rise of apartment building sale prices in Los Angeles over the last few years drove multifamily investors south to Long Beach looking for better bargains. Now, that has pushed prices there, too. Price per unit amounts for multifamily properties have doubled in Long Beach since 2014, according to CoStar.

As an example of the rising prices, a much older garden apartment complex traded last month for $50.7 million.

IMT Residential owns at least 50 properties around the country, mostly in Sun Belt, according to Real Capital Analytics.

The firm’s last big move was in May 2017, when it sold the 52-unit IMT Granada Pointe complex to Kirkstead LLC for $19.5 million.