A Newport Beach developer has sold an apartment complex in Placentia for $130 million, setting a new benchmark in Orange County so far this year at $605,000 per unit.
Lyon Living sold The Herald, a newly built, 215-unit complex at 150 E. Crowther Ave., the Orange County Business Journal reported. The buyer was MG Properties, a San Diego based investment firm.
Its per-unit sale price is the highest this year among Orange County apartment projects of 100 units or more. The deal is also the third priciest rental property sold in the county this year.
Lyon Living co-developed the project with Integral Communities, which bought the site of a former Boys & Girls Club for $4.7 million. The five-story complex was completed in August.
The Placentia purchase marks MG Properties’ third acquisition in north OC, with holdings of more than 600 units.
“The Herald is an ideal addition to our Southern California portfolio,” Jeff Gleiberman,managing director of the Newport Beach-based firm, told the business journal. “We believe Orange County has strong fundamentals and is positioned well for growth in the near term.”
The Herald complex – with an average rent of $2,982, about $400 more than the OC average – is a short walk from the city’s Old Town, and comes amid a larger push to revitalize its Packing House District.
It was developed after the city revamped zoning rules to spur new mixed-use development near a planned Metrolink Station next door, whose opening has been delayed.
Lyon Living was represented in the sale by Mark Peterson, Joseph Smolen, Geoff Boler and Jonathan Merhut of Eastil Secured. The purchase was financed by affiliates of Apollo Global Real Estate Management.
The deal joins the top three apartment sales of the year in OC, including $205.5 million paid by Interstate Equities to buy the 400-unit The Bryant at Yorba Linda, and $142 million paid by BLDG Partners to buy the 282-unit Allure Apartments in Orange.
Lyon Living was founded in 1989 by Gen. William Lyon, former commander of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command and founder of the Lyon Air Museum near the John Wayne Airport. He died in 2020 at age 97. The company was co-founded by Frank T. Suryan Jr., its chairman and CEO.
The multifamily development company has acquired more than 21,000 units and developed or renovated 12,500 units in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Nevada.
In 2020, it partnered with Newport Beach-based Eagle Four Partners to buy the 532-room Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa near Fashion Island for $216 million. Construction is underway to revamp the hotel into Vea Newport Beach, expected to debut in June.
[Orange County Business Journal] – Dana Bartholomew
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