PARAMOUNT, CA-Kennedy Wilson Multifamily Management of Beverly Hills and Hanover Financial of Los Angeles have acquired the 306-unit Century Place apartment complex at 13801 Paramount Blvd. from Beverly Hills-based Jan Development. The JV paid $51.5 million in a deal that one of the brokers in the transaction describes as complex and highly structured. David Casper of Hendricks & Partners points out that the transaction took over a year and required five levels of financing.

Casper teamed with Robin Ossenbeck of Hendricks & Partners to represent both KW Multifamily and the seller. As part of the acquisition, Kennedy Wilson Multifamily and Hanover Financial have invested $10.4 million in new capital and have assumed $21 million in bonded debt for Century Place, which was built by Jan Development in 1991 with the help of tax-exempt bonds floated by the City of Paramount.

Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage, which services and credit enhances the existing bonds through Fannie Mae, also provided the partners with $14.3 million of additional debt and arranged a $10.5-million mezzanine loan from LEM Mezzanine Inc. Bob Hart, president and CEO of KW Multifamily, says the result of the deal is a value-added investment for the buyers in line with Kennedy Wilson's "ongoing strategy of investing in supply constrained Southern California markets with low vacancy factors and upside potential."

Mark Macedo, principal of Hanover Financial, says that opportunities to buy assets such as Century Place in an area like the 105 and 605 freeways corridor are rare because so many investors are seeking urban infill projects. Macedo notes that this is the 20th joint venture between Hanover and Kennedy Wilson.

Hart notes that the purchase price of approximately $168,000 a unit is considerably less than replacement cost and that the apartment complex "is extremely well constructed and maintained." He says that the new owners plan to invest $2.75 million in upgrading common areas, making interior improvements to the units when they are vacated and adding a learning center to the project.

The Century Place location is in the center of an area of job growth and economic vitality, the new owners note. It's close to five freeways and 15 minutes from Los Angeles International Airport, as well as near the 160-acre Downey Landing redevelopment project, home to the 34-acre Downey Landing Retail Center.

Century Place's 306 one-bedroom, one-bath and two-bedroom, two-bath units are housed in five three-story and one four-story wood frame and stucco buildings spread over 4.93 acres. Its amenities include landscaped common areas, a swimming pool, two spas, a sauna, a fitness center, two laundry facilities and a single-level subterranean parking structure with 612 spaces.