Joint venture pays $54M for storm-damaged Redondo Beach resi complex

The JV acquired a 105-unit complex in a seaside city of aging apartment developments

IDEAL Capital Group President Austin Herzog, Aegon Asset Management US CEO Gary Black, and the Novella Redondo
IDEAL Capital Group President Austin Herzog, Aegon Asset Management US CEO Gary Black, and the Novella Redondo

A joint venture has purchased a storm-damaged apartment complex in Redondo Beach, with plans to overhaul the 105-unit development.

IDEAL Capital Group and Aegon Real Assets paid $53.5 million for the Novella Redondo development at 616 Esplanade, according to a source close to the deal.

The seller was San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group.

Around 80 percent of those units have been vacant since the 82,200-square-foot complex sustained severe water damage during storms last October. Following the storms, Stockbridge upgraded waterproofing in common areas and replaced the roof, but IDEAL and Aegon plan to fully renovate the complex.

Stockbridge paid about $50 million for the property in 2015. At that time, it had already received a $16 million renovation.

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CBRE’s Dean Zander, Stewart Weston, and John Montakab represented Stockbridge on the deal.

Aegon Real Assets is the San Francisco-based U.S. real estate wing of Aegon Asset Management, a Dutch investment manager. IDEAL, a multifamily developer, is based in Fresno County.

The stock of large multifamily developments in the small seaside community is an aging one. It has been more than 40 years since a significant apartment complex was built, according to CBRE, which announced the acquisition but would not provide a sale price.

There is one such project under construction now — a 115-unit development at the south end of the city. It saw fierce opposition before its approval in 2016, according to the Daily Breeze.

The city is strongly skeptical of new large development projects. In 2017, the City Council unanimously agreed to a moratorium on mixed-use projects, which Mayor Bill Brand then called a “sign of overdevelopment.”