Ballast picked up a trio of Pacific Heights buildings in a nearly $50 million deal as the local multifamily operator and investor grows its holdings in the city.
Ballast acquired 1725, 1735 and 1755 Van Ness Avenue for $48.5 million, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The sellers were affiliates of Flynn Investments, the firm founded by late investor Russell Flynn, a longtime local landlord who once held thousands of units across the city.
The portfolio totals 110 units, and the deal pencils out to $441,000 per apartment. The properties were nearly fully leased at closing, with occupancy at 97 percent.
Flynn took a loss on the portfolio, which it bought in three transactions for $55.6 million. It purchased 1735 Van Ness in 2009 for $8.2 million, 1755 Van Ness in 2016 for $29.8 million, and 1725 Van Ness in 2018 for $17.6 million.
Ballast’s purchase is the latest in a steady stream of acquisitions by the firm in recent months.
The company spent $32.4 million in the first quarter snapping up five properties across Hayes Valley, Lower Haight and the Western Addition, totaling more than 100 units. The Hayes Valley acquisitions include the 26-unit 48 Haight Street, the 12-unit 249 Oak Street and 21-unit 225 Fell Street. Ballast also bought the 10-unit 708 Oak Street in the Lower Haight and 36-unit 1215 Laguna Street in Western Addition.
Ballast has been involved in some of the city’s largest multifamily bets. In late 2023, it partnered with Brookfield to acquire more than 2,100 apartments in San Francisco. The firm is also working with court-appointed receiver Douglas Wilson Companies to manage Parkmerced, San Francisco’s largest apartment complex, comprising 3,220 units.
Rents in San Francisco have been among the fastest-growing in the country over the past year, fueled in part by the artificial intelligence boom and increasing return-to-office rates bringing in droves of tech workers. Rents were up 14 percent year-over-year in February, representing the fastest growth in the country over the past year, according to Apartment List. That same month, the city reclaimed its top spot as the priciest market in the country for renters of two-bedroom units and led the nation in rent growth over the past year.
— Chris Malone Méndez
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