SCS Development drops $87M on Monrovia apartments

A housing developer from the San Francisco Bay Area has spent $87.3 million for an apartment complex in Monrovia. 

SCS Development bought the Paragon at Old Town apartments in a deal that closed late last month, according to property records filed with Los Angeles County. Marcus & Millichap’s Institutional Property Advisors brokered the deal and announced the sale. 

The deal for the 163-unit complex at 700 South Myrtle Avenue works out to about $535,000 per unit. 

Only one other multifamily property with more than 150 units in L.A. County has traded for over $500,000 per unit in the last year, according to IPA’s Kevin Green, who worked on the deal. 

Average rents in Monrovia have increased 25 percent in the last 12 months, according to Zumper data, hitting $3,225 a month in August. 

Limited liability companies tied to Burlingame-based developer Dewey Land and Walnut Creek-based multifamily investor Sequoia Equities sold the property. Dewey and Sequoia bought the complex for $73.8 million in 2017, records show. 

Sequoia Equities was founded by R. Ken Coit, a financial planner turned multifamily investor who boasts a portfolio of more than 13,000 apartments. 

Dewey Land, which primarily focuses on development, was founded by Richard Dewey Jr., and has built more than 6 million square feet of commercial, life science and multifamily, according to its website. 

It’s unclear whether SCS — primarily a home builder and planner — is angling to redevelop the apartment complex. 

Over the last couple of years, the firm’s largest project has been the 77-acre development of a housing, apartment and retail community in the Northern California city of Dublin. 

SCS plans to build at least 650 single-family homes, condos and apartments on the site, plus a 140-key hotel.