The real estate investment trust bought the 14-year-old complex in a tax-deferred exchange on an all cash basis. The purchase was funded in part with the proceeds from the sale this summer of Tara Village, a 168-unit apartment complex in the San Fernando Valley community of Tarzana, a deal that was reported by GlobeSt.com.

The Marbrisa was built in 1988 on a 3.5-acre site near the Pacific Coast Highway. The gated complex consists of eight four-story buildings including 102 one-bedroom units, 54 studios and 46 two-bedroom units. It features central air conditioning, a pool, a spa, a fitness center, and underground secured parking.

The transaction was at least the third for Essex in Southern California in recent months, part of a strategy that the company describes in part as acquiring apartment properties in markets with strong employment bases, where single-family housing is limited, and in in-fill locations like Long Beach. Besides the Tara Village deal, its other recent Southern California transactions have included the purchase of the 119-unit Ocean Villa Townhomes apartment complex in Oxnard from a private investor for $13.25 and the $31.8 million purchase of the 225-unit Arboretum at Lake Forest apartment complex in the Orange County community of Lake Forest from a partnership of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Milwaukee and Fairfield Residential of San Diego.