A beleaguered Mosser Capital is unloading its portfolio of Oakland apartments as rents in the East Bay city fall faster than any large city in the nation. The ask for 173 units: $27.3 million.
The San Francisco-based investor, an affiliate of Mosser Companies led by Neveo Mosser, has listed five apartment buildings and two commercial storefronts in Oakland’s Lake Merritt, near Downtown, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
Colliers holds the listing, which is offered as either one portfolio, sub-portfolios or single complexes. The $27.3 million price works out to $157,775 per unit, not including the commercial spaces.
The so-called Mosser Portfolio includes a five-story, 81-unit building with two shops at 425 East 18th Street; a two-story, 12-unit building at 414 East 15th Street; a four-story, 18-unit building at 1146 McKinley Avenue; a three-story, 24-unit building at 1428 Jackson Street; and a four-story, 38-unit building at 553 Sycamore Street and 542 25th Street.
The properties include a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units built between 1918 and 1972. Most of the apartments command full market rents, according to Colliers, with 66 percent of the leases signed or available for rent since 2020.
Mosser Capital, among the most active residential landlords in San Francisco, acquired the Oakland properties in 2016 for an undisclosed price, according to the Business Journal.
The sale coincides with plunging rents across Oakland, which have fallen 8.8 percent since last summer — the steepest decline of any major U.S. city, according to the Orange County Register.
Some of the properties listed by Mosser were the subject of a 2021 lawsuit by tenants who accused the landlord of illegal utility fees, shut offs and harassment. A spokesperson for Mosser said the firm was “committed to maintaining and improving properties so residents have a quality place to call home.”
This year, Mosser faced strong legal and financial headwinds, as internal turmoil threatened to tear apart the family firm.
The blood behind the Mosser Companies hit the boiling point last spring when the children of its late founder sued to have his successor, CEO Neveo Mosser, toppled from the family trust, according to the San Francisco Standard.
Mosser ran into financial shoals during the pandemic, largely because of falling rents and occupancy, and rising borrowing and repair costs.
In February, the firm defaulted on an $88 million loan tied to 12 apartment buildings with 459 units in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In June, the Mosser Companies faced eviction from their 6,000-square-foot headquarters at 220 Montgomery Street, in San Francisco’s Financial District, for not paying rent, the Chronicle reported. A Mosser spokeswoman had said the firm gave notice in the spring that it would move out.
— Dana Bartholomew
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