Sunnyvale Apartments Sold to Prometheus for $70 Million

Prometheus Real Estate Group is growing its multifamily holdings in the Bay Area with an apartment complex in Sunnyvale.

San Mateo-based Prometheus bought the 173-unit Highlander property for $69.5 million, or nearly $402,000 per unit, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported. A joint venture between Northwest Investments and Central Investments was the seller of the property at 620 Iris Avenue.

Prometheus’ purchase of The Highlander comes as Sunnyvale is seeing an influx of tech workers and real estate investment as the artificial intelligence boom grows across the Bay Area. Average rents in Santa Clara County are roughly $3,400 per month and could climb to $3,600 over the next two years, according to CoStar. Rent growth in Silicon Valley is expected to rank second nationwide behind San Francisco.

Developers are looking to meet the need for housing in Sunnyvale as the market bounces back from post-pandemic lows. Last month, Texas-based Beam Reach earned approval from the City of Sunnyvale to demolish an office building at 215 Bordeaux Drive formerly home to Google and replace it with a 265-unit residential building.

Construction of new apartments has risen to 1,050 starts in the latest quarter but remains below the pre-pandemic average of about 1,600 units per quarter, per CoStar data cited by the Business Journal. By contrast, in the second half of 2024, no new units in the region began construction at all.

Investors are also trying to get a piece of the pie. In March, Ethos Real Estate purchased the 148-unit Crossings apartments at 1180 Lochvinar Avenue for $67.7 million, or roughly $457,500 per unit. At the top of the year, PGIM and Interstate Equities Corporation acquired the 184-unit Maddox apartment complex at 870-874 East El Camino Real for approximately $76.9 million, or about $418,000 per unit.

Last fall, Singapore-based City Development Limited sold the 250-unit property at 1250 Lakeside Drive for $143.5 million. And nearly a year ago, San Francisco-based Prime Residential bought the Citra apartments at 745 South Bernardo Avenue for $68.5 million.

— Chris Malone Méndez