Equity Residential Buys 225-Unit Versailles

LOS ANGELES-Chicago-based apartment REIT Equity Residential has acquired the 225-unit Versailles Apartments, a luxury Koreatown complex, from Oxford Associates, an affiliate of Los Angeles-based Frost/Chaddock. The sale, which was an off-market transaction, is one of the largest multifamily deals to close in some time in the market.

James Frost, principal and owner of Frost/Chaddock Developers LLC, tells GlobeSt.com that the company developed the Versailles for all-in costs of approximately $40 million, including a series of transactions in 2004 when Oxford Associates purchased the entire city block at South Oxford Street between James Woods and San Marino streets, in the heart of Koreatown. The developer razed eight, 10-unit apartment complexes of circa 1930s vintage that were on the site and were in run-down condition to replace them with the 225-unit Versailles, also adding a substantial amount of parking in a three-level parking structure. Frost/Chaddock entitled the property for the 225 units through the state’s Bonus Density program, SB 1818, setting aside eight units for very-low-income households.