Ask on OC apartment complex points to continued heat

For the first time since the Clinton administration, the 184-unit, multifamily Castlewood Park Apartments in Orange County is up for sale.

The Leeson Group of Marcus & Millichap listed Castlewood Park in the city of Buena Park for $84.2 million. The seller is Newcastle Enterprises, based in Huntington Beach. Newcastle, helmed by dentist Leonard S. Carlin, acquired the property in 1994 for $1.7 million.

Buena Park has a population of 80,000 or so spread along the 91 Freeway, on the boundary between Los Angeles and Orange counties. The 184-unit complex, located about a five-minute drive from the Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park, features unit floor plans of 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms. About half of its units are townhomes.

The asking prices come to about $458,000 per unit, offering another indicator of strength for rentals in north Orange County. The two-year-old high-end apartment complex in Fullerton–just east of Buena Park–fetched a record price in late 2021.

According to a 2022 Marcus & Milichap investment forecast for multifamily properties, Orange County has the distinction of being the nation’s tightest market for apartments. That follows prior reports on OC, where vacancy vacancy rate has been less than 2 percent for high-end and mid-tier apartments.

The forecast predicted that the market is likely to remain tight as everything from supply shortages in building materials to rising interest rates indicate costs of for-sale housing will remain high.

Castlewood Park’s listing agents noted that the compound’s exterior went through extensive renovation recently. The original wood siding exteriors were replaced with stacked stone. The compound’s amenities feature a garage, a carport, surface parking, on-site laundry, a playground and swimming pools.

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