Classic Apartments Command Nearly $8M

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA-The sale of two complexes that are both more than 70 years old for more than $241,000 per unit demonstrates that older properties can still command premium prices in the Los Angeles apartment market if they are well maintained. It also helps if the properties are courtyard classics, like the two complexes sold in a portfolio transaction by Kitty Wallace of Sperry Van Ness.The properties are El Palacio, an 18-unit historical garden-style courtyard apartment building at 8491 Fountain Ave., and the Lotus Apartments, a 14-unit historical, Chinese-style courtyard apartment building at 1216 N. La Cienega Ave. Wallace represented the seller of the properties, a Los Angeles-based private investor, with David Sudeck of Kinnard Development & Consulting representing the buyer.The Palacio went for more than $4.4 million and the Lotus for nearly $3.3 million, both to an L.A.-based private investor. The properties were built in 1931 and 1928 respectively and were designed by William Hauptman, one of the prominent architects of courtyard-style buildings at the time. Both complexes were 100% occupied at the time of the sale.

Wallace notes that the Palacio features cast stone ornamentation, double height doors, sculptured columns, decorative metal work and many other original architectural features. It consists of one studio unit, 14 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units; two two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom units; and one two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit with rents ranging from $572 to $3,300. The Lotus consists of one studio unit and 13 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units with rents ranging from $712 to $2,500. The Lotus features numerous original design elements including metal cresting, decorative banding, false beams, wood window grilles and wood-framed large picture windows with arched headers and square panes and antique lanterns. In addition to their design, Wallace points out, the properties benefit from their location in “a highly desirable residential section” of West Hollywood.