Chicago Buyer Pays $74M for 406 Units

(Read more on the multifamily market.)

TUSTIN, CA-Waterton Associates of Chicago has acquired the 406-unit Villas at Tustin Apartments from Acacia Capital Corp. of San Mateo in a deal that offers upside potential on several fronts, according to brokers from Hendricks & Partners who negotiated the deal. The property, which was built in 1971, is situated on the west side of North Tustin Avenue, where the daily drive-by traffic count is about 30,000 cars per day, notes Joe Leon of the Newport Beach office of Hendricks & Partners.

Leon, who was the team leader on this assignment, joined with Dave Casper of the Hendricks & Partners West Los Angeles office and Bruce Furniss of the firm’s North Orange County office in representing both the buyer and the seller. Leon notes that the Villas at Tustin is “just minutes from the 806-acre Platinum Triangle redevelopment area,” which is one of the factors that made the property appealing to prospective buyers. The Platinum Triangle area is entitled for seven million sf of office and retail and is expected to bring 26,000 new jobs to the submarket.

“While the sellers continued the renovation of interiors during their ownership, the buyer envisioned the benefit of further interior renovation and exterior upgrades, given the recent success of other nearby projects like Creekside Village,” Leon says. He notes that washer and dryer appliances alone could add as much as $75 per unit per month in new net operating income and that the buyer plans to incorporate washers and dryers into the building upgrades over the next several years.

Casper adds that the Orange County assets of this size rarely come onto the market and that the $183,004 cost per unit “leaves a lot of room for value creation over the next few years.” Casper says that the property’s proximity to Tustin and its location within the Orange City School District, along with a unit mix heavy on two-bedroom flats and townhomes will continue to make the complex a strong rental option for middle-income residents.