Lowe JV Buys First Multifamily Asset

LOS ANGELES-A joint venture of Lowe Enterprises Investors and Sebren Development has acquired the Terraces at Westside Premiere, a 60-unit apartment complex in the Palms area of West Los Angeles from Phillip Shuster of Shuster Properties. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the buyers are believed to have paid $13.5 million for the property.The transaction was brokered by Karoline Sauls, associate partner of Hendricks and Partners' West Los Angeles office, who tells GlobeSt.com that the property attracted multiple offers and sold within 30 days of the original offering. Sauls was also the listing broker when Shuster acquired the property in 2004.Shuster completed a major remodel that included a new leasing office where there hadn't been one before, new landscape and hardscape including patios, fountains and barbeque areas. The seller completely changed the design of the property, with new Mediterranean roof lines including bell towers and decorative wrought iron gates and railings, Sauls notes.Lowe Enterprises Investors acted on behalf of an investment client in acquiring the two-story courtyard apartment complex at 10705-10725 Rose Ave. in the Palms area of West Los Angeles. Kathy Briscoe, EVP of Lowe Enterprises Investors, says that the joint venture plans to invest $1 million in additional improvements to the property under the direction of Sebren Development.Sebren has completed a number of multifamily projects in Los Angeles, including another on Rose Avenue. The capital improvement program will include modernizing and enhancing the unit interiors at the complex, modernization of its facade, additional landscaping and repainting of the common areas.Built in 1962, the Terraces at Westside Premiere comprises 59 two-bedroom units and a single one-bedroom unit built around large interior courtyards. Interior upgrades to the units, which average 1,000 sf, will include kitchen and bathroom renovations, new cabinets, counters, fixtures and flooring. Stratus Management will continue as the property manager.Approximately 37 of the units were remodeled recently, Sauls points out, and with the remaining units renting for approximately 30% under market, the new owners can realize quick rental upside from their renovation program because "the market area has excellent turnover," she says. She adds that the property is situated on one of the best residential streets in the Palms area, Rose Avenue, with additional frontage and visibility on Overland Avenue.The apartment complex is Lowe Enterprises' first multifamily acquisition in a new program that is targeting in-fill properties in select markets, notes Briscoe. She says that Lowe partnered with Sebren for its track record of identifying and redeveloping apartment properties.Sebren, established in 1998, has bought and sold 17 properties. Its portfolio includes 16 properties comprising 661 residential units and 12 retail units valued at more than $73 million.