Rio Properties sells apartment portfolio in LA and Oakland for $30M

Rio Properties has sold a portfolio of five apartment buildings in Los Angeles and Oakland to multiple buyers in deals worth about $30 million.

The Westchester-based firm run by David Darling sold two properties in Venice to Advanced Real Estate; a property in Oakland to Virtú Investments; and two properties in L.A. and Marina del Rey to a real estate investment trust controlled by Ares Management and RBC Capital Markets, the Commercial Observer reported.

Rio sold three of the properties to tax-sheltered multifamily funds, and traded two properties to a REIT, according to Colliers. Prices for each deal were either not exact or not disclosed.

Advanced Real Estate, based in Irvine, bought two apartment buildings at 1400 and 1500 Venice Boulevard in Venice through a contribution fund agreement for more than $13 million.

Advanced plans to eventually dispose of the properties through a property swap known as a 1031 exchange to defer capital gains taxes.

“Our plan for ‘The X Fund’ is to gather as many smaller properties as possible, renovate them (if needed) through our in-house renovation company, manage them well, and improve their value,” Richard Julian, CEO of Advanced, said in a statement.

“Ultimately, we will sell this portfolio and trade into much larger and more efficient properties. The large properties we trade into will be held in our fund indefinitely.”

Virtú Investments bought a building through a contribution fund at 612 Mariposa Avenue in Oakland for $10.6 million.

A REIT with Ares Management and RBC Capital Markets acquired an eight-unit complex at 4034 Redwood Avenue in Los Angeles for $3.84 million, or $480,000 per unit. They also bought a complex at 5100 Via Dolce in Marina Del Rey for $760 per square foot — though its size and final price were not disclosed.

Apartment occupancy across Greater Los Angeles was 95.3 percent in the fourth quarter, according to Colliers, 0.2 percent less than a year ago. At the same time, average rents fell for two consecutive quarters, though they were 10.5 percent higher than before the pandemic.

— Dana Bartholomew