This online LA rental platform is a multifamily buyer

LAApartments.biz acquired a 100-unit resi complex in the San Fernando Valley

John Chiu and 12711 Branford Street (Credit: Google Maps)
John Chiu and 12711 Branford Street (Credit: Google Maps)

LAApartments.biz just made its second multifamily property purchase in a month.

The online rental platform acquired a 100-unit development in the San Fernando Valley, according to property records.

The Palms-based company purchased the Branford Villa Apartments in Pacoima for $23.5 million. It was acquired through its entity Osborn LLC, managed by Walter Castro. Earlier this month, the company closed on a different apartment complex, this one in Van Nuys, for $9.3 million.

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The eight-building property in Pacoima is located at 12711 Branford Street. It includes 79,800 square feet of space. It was registered to an entity controlled by a neurosurgeon named John C. Chiu. He had purchased the site for $17.8 million in 2015.

Records show LAApartments.biz — through Osborn LLC — owns at least three other multifamily properties in the Valley, including another in Pacoima, purchased in 2012, and two in the North Hills, purchased in 2014.

Home sales have cratered in the San Fernando Valley, hitting a 35-year low in February when just 266 homes sold in the 260-square-mile region. Meanwhile, rents are rising are in the area. In March, the city of Santa Clarita recorded the biggest rent increases in the L.A. metro area.