The Arroyo Vista apartment complex at 1444 Orange Ave. was in foreclosure and had been under-managed by the defaulted borrower when American Realty acquired the property in 1994, according to an American Realty announcement on the deal. The investment advisory firm renovated and improved the property and focused on reducing tenant turnover, according to portfolio manager Greg Blomstrand and asset manager Frank Coari, who added that the improvements enabled them to raise rents as well.

American, which sold the asset on behalf of a pension fund client, obtained one of the highest prices paid per unit for comparable properties in the area, $88,600 per unit. Blomstrand and Coari also cited substantial investor interest in apartment buildings in the Inland Empire, noting that the listing by the Ontario office of CB Richard Ellis, which represented American in the recent transaction, attracted more than 15 potential buyers.

Investors have grown more interested in Inland Empire apartments of late because the population is growing while the supply of new apartments has been limited by a slow entitlement process. Inland Empire apartment experts also say apartment supply has been limited in the past because single-family homes were so inexpensive in comparison to apartments that builders concentrated on houses rather than apartments.

The Arroyo Vista was built in 1989 and consists of nine two-story, wood frame and stucco buildings on 4.2 acres. The 68 units include 40 two-bedroom, two-bath apartments and 28 one-bedroom, one bath apartments, evenly divided between first-floor and second-floor units. One-bedrooms are 720 sf and two-bedrooms 966 sf.American provides of institutional real estate investment management services including acquisition, disposition, development, structured finance, and active asset management. It has more than $1.3 billion in assets under management.