Davlyn Boosts Multifamily Portfolio

RIVERSIDE, CA-Davlyn Investments of San Diego has surpassed the 1000-unit mark in the Inland Empire with its $16 million purchase of the Woodside Apartments in Riverside. The San Diego-based apartment and condo conversion specialist bought the 132-unit property from RK Properties of Long Beach in a direct deal between the buyer and the seller.

The acquisition, which Davlyn financed with funding arranged by Mike Atkins and Jack Webster of Bank of America, is Davlyn's fifth in the Inland Empire over the past two years and its second in the past few months. The company has renamed the property Highlander Pointe.

According to Davlyn's director of acquisitions, Aaron Pacillio, the complex was unusual in that it was originally presented as a mapped, condominium conversion opportunity. But Pacillio says that softening in the condo market, paired with the liability inherent in conversions, made the deal "more attractive to us as an apartment investment."

Pacillio says that Davlyn found the property appealing as an investment for a number of reasons. Among these were the property's location within walking distance of the fast-growing University California Riverside, the strong investment fundamentals of the submarket, the lack of new comparable product coming onto the market any time soon, "extremely tight occupancies" and "housing prices that have soared beyond belief over the past few years."

Highlander Pointe represents the third purchase that Davlyn has completed since opening its Orange County acquisitions office late last year. The others were a 128-unit complex in Lake Elsinore called North Lake and a 200-unit condominium conversion deal in La Mesa known as Adagio.

Davlyn's 1,000-unit-plus Inland Empire holdings are part of a portfolio of more than 2,500 apartment and condominium conversion units throughout Southern California. The company is headed by Jon Williams and Paul Kerr.