Villas at Tustin Apartments Villas at Tustin is a 406-unit infill apartment community in Santa Ana, CA, that sold for $94 million.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA—Two multifamily assets with more than 100 units changed hands this week: the Villas at Tustin Apartments and Monterra Springs Apartment Homes.

The Bascom Group LLC purchased the Villas at Tustin Apartments, a 406-unit infill apartment community at 2414 N. Tustin Ave. in Santa Ana, CA, from an unnamed seller for $94 million or $231,527 per unit. Sean Deasy and Ryan Fitzpatrick of HFF were the listing brokers for the sale of the property, which was built in 1972, and Charles Halladay and Jamie Kline of HFF arranged the $66.5-million loan with California Bank & Trust.

According to Chad Sanderson, senior principal for Bascom, “Villas at Tustin is one of the best investment opportunities we have seen in Orange County. Villas is in a great location with easy access to the 55, 22, 91 and 5 freeways. This is extremely attractive to potential tenants. We are excited to modernize Villas at Tustin’s interiors and exteriors to allow the property to compete with newly constructed class-A properties.”

Lee Nguyen, SVP of Bascom, adds, “The South Coast Metro continues to be a strong draw to younger generations of tenants. To appeal to this group, we plan to give a modern update to Villas at Tustin’s unit interiors and property amenities. Villas at Tustin presents a strong value-add opportunity in a location we are very excited about.”

GlobeSt.com was unable to reach Sanderson before deadline to discuss what is fueling the spate of large apartment sales in the region.

Monterra Springs Monterra Springs, a 111-unit in La Habra, CA, was sold to a 1031-exchange buyer for $30.1 million.

In addition, an unnamed seller has sold Monterra Springs Apartment Homes, a 111-unit apartment community at 861 South Glencliff St. in La Habra, CA, to a 1031-exchange buyer for $30.1 million. or $271,000 per unit. Built in 1969 on 5 acres, Monterra Springs is close to both Los Angeles’ and Orange County’s largest employment centers and within walking distance of more than 1.3 million square feet of retail space on Imperial Highway.

Alexander Garcia Jr., senior director of Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, along with senior directors Christopher Zorbas and David Sperling and associate Michael Cavner, represented the seller and produced the buyer for the asset. According to Garcia, the property recently underwent a repositioning effort to elevate the living standard, enhancing both the unit interiors and community amenities. “The previous owner invested more than $1.5 million in upgrades over the last three years and new ownership has an opportunity to achieve greater revenue upside through the continuation of the interior renovation program.”

Zorbas adds, “Investors see the high growth potential of this area, which is fueled by its proximity to major employment centers across Southern California. Attracted by Orange County’s outstanding fundamentals, multifamily investors are finding local investment opportunities irresistible.”