Newport Apartments Bring $2.6M

NEWPORT BEACH, CA-A private investor has acquired a 19-unit apartment building at 1481 Placentia Ave. for $2.6 million and plans extensive renovations on the property.

In a deal that closed in 30 days, the buyer acquired the complex from a private family trust, according to Steve Heri of the CB Richard Ellis Private Client Group, who represented the buyer along with CB’s Cara Weichman.

The building was constructed in 1965 and had been operating “well below market levels for the past several years,” according to Heri, who says rents were at least 25% below market and the building requires a great deal of deferred maintenance.

Financing proved a challenge because the property’s income compared to price was well below most lenders’ required debt-coverage ratios. But the building has potential to operate at a much higher level, he says, so that helped convince a local bank to provide funding.

The buyer has slated the property for “heavy rehabilitation” that will include new piping, individual hot water heaters for dishwashers and washer/dryer units in each apartment, and the creation of a new Cape Cod-style façade.

The seller was represented by Robert Lamour of Prudential California.