$25.6M Buys La Habra Apartments

LA HABRA, CA-Decron Management has acquired the 242-unit Slate Creek apartment complex from Pacific Properties for $25.6 million, according to Marcus & Millichap.

John Walsh of Marcus & Millichap, who represented both the buyer and the seller, says the townhouse-style complex was built in 1974, was remodeled in 2000, and was 95% occupied at the time of the sale.

Slate Creek is at 1440 W. Lambert Road and consists of 14 two-story, wood-frame and stucco buildings with separately metered gas and electric service. The complex includes one single of 500 sf renting for $800, plus 178 one-bedroom units in three separate configurations ranging from 660 to 835 sf and renting for $865 to $1,125 per month; and 63 two-bedroom units in various floor plans ranging from 915 to 1,115 sf and renting for $1,020 to $1,400. In all, the property features seven floor plans, all of which Walsh describes as spacious, plus central heating and air conditioning, private patios and balconies, large walk-in closets and kitchens, dishwashers, ceiling fans and other features. The buyer was in a 10-31 exchange and closed escrow in the all-cash deal within nine days.

The Slate Creek project is one of the largest apartment complexes to be sold in Orange County in recent months, and its sales price of nearly $106,000 per unit places it above the average price per unit in the county over the past two years, according to recent Marcus & Millichap reports on the county’s apartment market. At least one small building, an eight-unit complex in Laguna Beach, sold for more than $220,000 per unit this year, but many of the deals in the county in 2002 have fallen closer to the average, which has been more than $90,000 per unit for the past two years.