Pacific Coast, Cypress Acquire 792 Units

PCCP made its investment through the Southern California Smart Growth Fund, an institutional equity fund focused on low- and moderate-income census tracts throughout Southern California. William Lindsay, one of the founding partners of PCCP, says the goal of the new owners is to rehabilitate the apartments to provide "affordable, safe and clean housing" at a time when the shortage of affordable housing is an almost daily topic of the news in Southern California.

As part of the repositioning strategy, the Los Angeles apartment portfolio will undergo what the buyers describe as "significant exterior and interior renovations, totaling approximately $7,000 per unit," while the Koreatown portfolio's exterior and interior renovations will total approximately $10,000 per unit. The interior renovations for both portfolios will include restoring existing hardwood floors, painting, installing new appliances, and refinishing countertops and cabinets in kitchens and bathrooms. Exterior upgrades will include painting and restoring hallways and lobbies, installing separate electric meters for the units, making select upgrades to the plumbing and repairing and maintaining the fire and safety systems. Five of the apartment buildings in the Los Angeles portfolio fall within three redevelopment project areas of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency. These areas are Westlake, Hollywood and Hollywood/Beverly Normandie. Eight of the properties are located in low-income census tracts and two are located in moderate-income areas.

The Koreatown portfolio consists of five apartment communities that fall within a 10-block radius in Koreatown, a redevelopment project area. All of the properties are located in low-income census tracts.

Michael Sorochinsky, CEO of Cypress Equity Investments, says the renovation and preservation of older apartments such as these will provides "affordable yet livable housing for the segment of the population that has been and continues to be priced out of Downtown Los Angeles and the Westside."John Walsh of the Encino office of Marcus & Millichap and Janet Neman of the West Los Angeles office of the Charles Dunn Co. brokered the sales of the properties. Debt financing was arranged by Jonathan Soffer and Ramsey Daya of the Newport Beach office of Cohen Financial.