LOS ANGELES—Chinese developer BCEGI International Co. has acquired a land site at 6041 Variel Avenue in the Warner Center area. The Chinese investor beat out a handful of other buyers for the property, which is already entitled for 274 residential units. The area, a former industrial market, has seen tremendous growth and significant apartment development recently.
“We were not specifically targeting a buyer in Asia, but we did market the property globally and we did have offers domestically,” Laurie Lustig-Bower, EVP at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “It just worked out that the buyer we chose was from Asia. People liked the walkability of the market, and there are other developers in the market as well. That really speaks to how good the location is when you have an institutional developer building next to you.” Lustig-Bower represented the seller, Selective Real Estate Investments, in the deal along with Kamran Paydar.
Because Lustig-Bower represented the seller, she isn't aware of the buyer's exact plans for the property. Multifamily apartment development tends to be unusual for Chinese developers, because it is a more management intensive asset class; however, Lustig-Bower says that condominiums are one of the most popular asset classes for Asian buyers. “Multifamily includes apartment and condominium development,” she says. “We do see that one of the favorite assets of Chinese developers is condominium development. I would say that condos are more popular than office buildings and retail. The property also has entitlements to build an office property as well as the 274 units.”
The seller originally owned the property as an industrial asset, and decided to add value by entitling the property for multifamily. “The seller had worked on getting the property entitled,” says Lustig-Bower. “He preferred to sell it rather than build it.” This strategic move is becoming common in the market. “The area is transitioning from industrial properties to multifamily,” says Lustig-Bower. “We are mainly seeing apartments go up in the market.”
LOS ANGELES—Chinese developer BCEGI International Co. has acquired a land site at 6041 Variel Avenue in the Warner Center area. The Chinese investor beat out a handful of other buyers for the property, which is already entitled for 274 residential units. The area, a former industrial market, has seen tremendous growth and significant apartment development recently.
“We were not specifically targeting a buyer in Asia, but we did market the property globally and we did have offers domestically,” Laurie Lustig-Bower, EVP at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “It just worked out that the buyer we chose was from Asia. People liked the walkability of the market, and there are other developers in the market as well. That really speaks to how good the location is when you have an institutional developer building next to you.” Lustig-Bower represented the seller, Selective Real Estate Investments, in the deal along with Kamran Paydar.
Because Lustig-Bower represented the seller, she isn't aware of the buyer's exact plans for the property. Multifamily apartment development tends to be unusual for Chinese developers, because it is a more management intensive asset class; however, Lustig-Bower says that condominiums are one of the most popular asset classes for Asian buyers. “Multifamily includes apartment and condominium development,” she says. “We do see that one of the favorite assets of Chinese developers is condominium development. I would say that condos are more popular than office buildings and retail. The property also has entitlements to build an office property as well as the 274 units.”
The seller originally owned the property as an industrial asset, and decided to add value by entitling the property for multifamily. “The seller had worked on getting the property entitled,” says Lustig-Bower. “He preferred to sell it rather than build it.” This strategic move is becoming common in the market. “The area is transitioning from industrial properties to multifamily,” says Lustig-Bower. “We are mainly seeing apartments go up in the market.”
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