Canyon sells LB apartments to value-add specialist

Entity linked to NY-based ESG Kullen buys 158-unit property for $43M

ESG Kullen's Eric Granowsky and Tom DelPonti with Canyon Partners' Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis and 2301 East Market Street in Long Beach (ESG Kullen, Canyon Partners, Google Maps)
ESG Kullen's Eric Granowsky and Tom DelPonti with Canyon Partners' Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis and 2301 East Market Street in Long Beach (ESG Kullen, Canyon Partners, Google Maps)

Canyon Partners has sold a Long Beach apartment complex to a multifamily-focused investment firm based in New York.

An entity linked to ESG Kullen purchased a 158-unit property at 2301 East Market Street in Long Beach for $42.8 million, records show. ESG Kullen did not respond to a request for comment.

The deal comes out to around $270,886 per unit.

Los Angeles-based Canyon bought the property, named Fountain View Apartment Homes, from Berkadia for $36.5 million in 2018, records show.

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Rents for a two-bedroom unit at the complex start at $1,800 per month, according to online listings for the property. The property was built in 1986, with some of the units seeing renovations since then.

In Long Beach, the average rent for an 811-square-foot apartment is $2,530 per month, according to RentCafe. In Bixby Hill, where the property is located, average rent is even higher at $2,766 per month.

ESG Kullen, which focused on “value-add” properties, has three other apartment complexes in Southern California — one in Riverside and two in Rialto. This is the firm’s first venture in the Los Angeles area. Related, Silverpeak, Harrison Street, Angelo Gordon and JPMorgan are among the firm’s equity partners, according to the firm’s website.

A number of multifamily properties in Long Beach have traded hands over the last year, as the city has begun to reposition itself as an aerospace and technology hub.

In January, investment firm Gelt bought a recently built, 271-unit complex in Downtown Long Beach for $156 million — or around $575,645 per unit. That property was sold by Holland Partner Group and NASH, the U.S. division of Osaka-based homebuilder Sekisui House.