Prime Finance Buys Citra Apartments in Sunnyvale

An apartment complex in Sunnyvale has traded hands in a nearly $70 million deal.

San Francisco-based Prime Residential bought the Citra apartments at 745 South Bernardo Avenue for $68.5 million, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported. An affiliate of Corebridge Real Estate Investors sold the property at a nearly $20 million profit after buying it with Pacific Urban (which Corebridge later bought out) in 2014 for approximately $50.2 million.

The 5-acre property was built in 1968 and remodeled in 2009. It comprises 147 residential units, according to the Business Journal.

The Citra apartments’ sales price was higher than the average multifamily sales price in Santa Clara County. The complex sold with a per-unit cost of about $466,000; the five-year average for Santa Clara County is about $458,000 for properties with more than 100 units, according to CBRE data cited by the Business Journal.

That being said, average rent prices in Sunnyvale are lower than those in neighboring Silicon Valley cities like Mountain View, Cupertino and Santa Clara. Average monthly rent prices in Sunnyvale were about $2,125, per the Business Journal, a figure which is “more lower than reality,” Kara Wiard, head of acquisitions at Prime, told The Real Deal.

“While it depends on a variety of factors (i.e. unit size, property vintage, etc), here are two sources which show much higher rents,” she emailed, pointing to Zillow’s $3,450 average rent Zumper’s $3,407 estimate.

Besides residential sales like those, Sunnyvale is proving to be a magnet for tech companies seeking office space in Silicon Valley.

Apple, for example, has plunked down nearly $1 billion for various office properties in the area. In June, the iPhone maker spent $350 million for the office buildings at 615 and 625 North Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale; last month, it snapped up the properties next door at 505-599 North Mathilda Avenue and 605 West Maude Avenue for $365 million.

Semiconductor manufacturer Applied Materials has been on a similar tear in Sunnyvale over the past decade. Last month, it paid $25.1 million for an office and research building at 999 East Arques Avenue. That acquisition followed nearly $422 million in building purchases in the South Bay city since 2018, including 928 East Arques Avenue for $41.4 million; 1050-1090 East Arques Avenue for more than $100 million; and two buildings last year at 929-935 East Arques Avenue and 306-310 De Guigne Road for $32.7 million. Last October, the company dropped $100 million for a vacant Fry’s Electronics store at 1077 East Arques Avenue.

— Chris Malone Méndez

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect a previous purchase price of $50.2 million along with comments from an executive at Prime Residential.