Essex Pays $101M for Apartment Complex in Mountain View

Essex Property Trust has picked up a 164-unit apartment complex in Downtown Mountain View for $101 million.

An affiliate of the San Mateo-based real estate investment trust led by Angela Kleiman bought the four-story, mixed-use building at 1030 Castro Street and 801 West El Camino Real, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The seller was South Carolina-based Greystar.

The cash deal between the REIT and the nation’s largest apartment management firm works out to $616,463 per unit, not including the ground-floor shops.

The purchase price was 20.6 percent below the property’s assessed value early last year of $127.7 million.

Greystar developed the Elan Mountain View apartments in 2018. After the sale, Essex renamed the complex ARLO Mountain View.

The complex at Castro Street and El Camino Real has studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments with quartz counters, gas ranges and stainless steel appliances, according to its website.

It also has a fitness center, clubhouse, business center, BBQ area and several gardens. Rents for the apartments were not disclosed on various apartment listing sites.

Ground-floor shops include Rose International Market, a grocery store; Mr. Sun Tea, a bubble tea and milkshake shop; and Oh Honey Macaron, a bakery, according to the Mercury News.

The sale comes as the Bay Area apartment market is thawing, with private equity firms and family offices buying multifamily properties as some longtime owners cash out, according to The Real Deal.

Essex Property Trust, was founded in 1971 by George Marcus, chairman of Calabasas-based commercial brokerage Marcus & Millichap.

The publicly owned firm, which focuses on multifamily investments in supply constrained markets, owns 190 apartment complexes in California, including 86 in the Bay Area, plus 59 complexes in Seattle, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew