TruAmerica Ends 2015 with $163M Buy

LOS ANGELES—TruAmerica Multifamily and Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. have purchased the Millennium Woodland Hills for $163 million in their final acquisition of the year. Built in 2015, the class-A 395-unit multifamily property is a bit of a divergence from the firm's typical value-add, class-B strategy, but illustrates the firm's interest in buying stabilized, core assets when the opportunity is right.

"We opportunistically barbell our portfolio with core or core-plus deals, and this fit that profile," Mark Enfield, chief administrative officer at TruAmerica Multifamily, tells GlobeSt.com. "We thought it was an excellent location and the price per pound was really good for this submarket, where there is extremely high demand. Additionally, the Warner Center 2035 plan, we think, is going to continue to transform the community into an urban hub that will drive job growth in the area and demand for higher quality rental housing."

Located at 21021 W. Erwin Street, the property was built to condo specifications with community amenities that include two swimming pools with aqua lounges, 24/7 clubhouse, fitness center, Wi-Fi lounge with coffee bar, community garden, dog park and a seven-story parking structure. "This is a new beautiful building, probably the nicest in the submarket, with hotel-style amenities," adds Enfield. "It was built to condo spec, and you really feel like you are in a condo property more than a rental property." Not surprisingly, TruAmerica will not be investing any additional capital into the already class-A asset; however, the property will be rebranded as the Motif.

In addition to buying a core property, TruAmerica also diverged in its typical business plan with a longer hold period. "We are underwriting for a 10-year hold, which is is a longer-term hold than we traditionally underwrite, and we could certainly go longer given that this property was built in 2015," explains Enfield.

However, this isn't entirely out of character for the company, which tends to buy class-A properties occasionally as a way to boost their portfolio. In 2014, the firm purchased the Vermont, a Koreatown class-A apartment community, for $283 million.