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Universe Holdings lists Inglewood apartment portfolio at 75% markup
Eleven properties with 228 units has an $85M price tag
Universe Holdings has put its portfolio of more than 200 units in southwest L.A. County up for sale, after spending five years assembling the properties in anticipation of SoFi Stadium and a casino lifting the local rental market.
The firm is selling 221 units at 11 apartment complexes in Inglewood and Hawthorne, according to a LoopNet listing. Adrienne Barr and Nancy Badzey of Berkadia are marking the portfolio for sale.
Universe, run by Henry Manoucheri, is asking $84.5 million for the portfolio — a 76 percent markup from what the firm spent buying the properties piecemeal. Manoucheri did not respond to a request for comment.
The company picked up the 11 properties between 2014 and 2019, spending a total of $47.8 million, according to property records filed with L.A. County.
Any buyer has the option to assume the financing attached to the portfolio, which has a fixed interest rate of 3.72 percent. The secured overnight financing rate, an interest rate benchmark in the banking industry, was 5.3 percent on Monday.
Since the properties are located in Inglewood and Hawthorne, the sale is not subject to the City of Los Angeles’ new transfer tax, which adds a 4 percent tax on property sales over $5 million and a 5.5 percent tax on deals over $10 million.
The deal comes as the final move in Universe’s calculated wager that multifamily rents in Inglewood would rise as a result of the Los Angeles Rams NFL team moving into SoFi Stadium, and the development of the Hollywood Park casino.
“We bet on it,” Samuel Landman, Universe’ head of investor relations, said in 2016. “We knew about it vaguely before it was announced. We knew that (a stadium plan) would be big, and once we knew there would be billions invested, we knew there would be a team, even if we didn’t know which one.”
The firm bought its first apartment complex at 875 Victor Avenue in November 2014 for $8.7 million, records show. At the time, Stan Kroenke, the owner of the NFL Rams, had not even announced plans for a redevelopment.
In 2016, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Inglewood was $1,100, according to Zumper. In 2022, it had increased to $1,750 — a more substantial increase than the city of L.A. over the same time period.
In 2019, Inglewood passed measures to limit rent hikes to 3 percent a year for all apartment complexes with five or more units.