CIM Group sells apartments near LAX to Swiss investor

A Switzerland-based investment firm is tapping into Southern California’s multifamily market with the acquisition of a property near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Zurich Alternative Asset Management, a subsidiary of Zurich Insurance, bought a 136-unit complex at 8820 South Sepulveda Eastway for $73.3 million, according to public property records filed with Los Angeles County.

CIM Group sold the property, the firm announced earlier this month. CIM built the property in 2019, after buying the site for $6 million from the Christian Church of the Pacific Southwest Region, records show.

The complex is currently managed by Greystar, according to a website for the property.

Rents range from $2,380 for a studio complex to up to $4,116 for a two-bedroom unit. Amenities at the property include a pool, outdoor courtyard, fitness center, garden and dog park.

Most of the apartment complexes near LAX were built before 1990, according to CIM Group’s co-founder Shaul Kuba.

The development created “much needed housing in a mature community,” Kuba said in a statement.

CIM Group is currently focusing its efforts on South L.A. and nearby areas. It building two complexes in West Adams and a 346-unit, mixed-use development in Jefferson Park, and recently bought a 117-unit complex near SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for $52 million.

Zurich Insurance, on the other hand, has been quiet over the last few years, though the firm is seemingly joining a trend among investors seeking multifamily properties.

Investors spent $19 billion on multifamily properties over the last year — about 5 percent of total multifamily investment in the U.S. It was officially the most popular commercial real estate class across the country, making up 37 percent of all investments in the first quarter.