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Virtu pays $71M for Warner Center complex in Opportunity Zone
Seller Cityview is expected to finish construction on 174-unit rental this month
Virtu Investments picked up an under-construction multifamily development in the Warner Center this week for just under $71 million.
The real estate firm, headed by principals Michael Green and Scott McWhorter, bought the 174-unit property at 21425 W. Vanowen Street, from Los Angeles-based real estate firm Cityview.
The apartment project, expected to be completed later this month, traded for just over $408,000 a unit.
According to Cityview CEO Sean Burton, the apartment complex sits in an Opportunity Zone, which will allow Virtu to defer paying capital gains taxes for up to 10 years.
Virtu currently owns five other multifamily rental properties in California, and has sold 15 properties in the state, according to its website.
Cityview originally acquired the Warner Center property, which is called the Mira, in March 2016 for about $8.2 million.
The development firm tapped Ken Stockton Architects to design the six-story building, which features a large mural on one side. Units are priced between $2,100 and $3,275 a month. South Carolina-based Greystar had been selected to manage the property, which also includes 245 parking spaces.
Eastdil Secured’s Joseph Smolen and Mark Peterson represented Cityview in the transaction.
The Warner Center has seen a renaissance of sorts in recent years, benefiting from a rezoning effort in the San Fernando Valley. A number of large projects are in the works there. The biggest is Westfield’s $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Westfield Promenade mall.
In June, an 190-unit proposed complex became the second large retirement home planned in the area.
South Bay Partners and LAMB Properties are also collaborating on a 420,000-square-foot senior living complex at a Variel Avenue development site up the street.
Westfield is now working through the environmental review process for a 320,000-square-foot arena that is part of the Warner Center makeover.
Westfield’s redevelopment also includes 1,430 residential units, more than 600,000 square feet of office space, and almost 600 hotel rooms.
Developers are building smaller projects as well. In late 2018, Bolour & Associates picked up a three-acre development site near the De Soto property with designs in hand for a 380-unit residential project.