Interwest Capital buys 142-unit apartment complex at Ontario Ranch

Investors keep pouring money into Southern California’s multifamily market, with the latest deal coming on an apartment complex in the Inland Empire that drew a buyer from San Diego.

Interwest Capital Group bought a 142-unit complex at 551 East Riverside Drive in Ontario for $45.6 million, according to an announcement from CBRE. CBRE’s Dean Zander and Stewart Weston brokered the deal on behalf of the seller, FPA Multifamily.

FPA, headquartered in San Francisco, bought the complex for $27.9 million in 2019, public property records show.

The property, called ReNew Mills, is located near the Ontario Ranch master-planned community— Southern California’s largest such development.

About 2,900 acres have been approved by the city of Ontario for single-family homes and multifamily complexes, as well as commercial space and business parks. Lennar, Landsea Homes, Pulte Group and Brookfield, among other companies, are all building properties on the site.

Rents at ReNew Mills range from $2,259 to $2,459 per month for a one-bedroom, according to online listings for the property. That meets the average rent for an apartment in Ontario, which was $2,364 as of this month, according to RentCafe.

The multifamily sector was officially the most popular commercial real estate class across the U.S. in the first quarter, making up 37 percent of all investments, according to CBRE. Investors have spent $374 billion on multifamily properties from March 2021 through the same month of this year.

Interwest has bought a number of apartment complexes across Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas over the last year. In February, the company bought a 128-unit complex in Riverside for $35.4 million.

Interwest Capital Group focuses on more than just apartments — the private investment firm also owns a number of hotels across the U.S., including the 165-key Claridge House in Chicago.