Koreatown has found its way back onto the institutional radar,and this time, it is may be there for good. Four years ago,TruAmerica Multifamily purchased the Vermont inKoreatown for an astounding $283 million, putting the Downtown LosAngeles-adjacent market on the map. Then, with little institutionalquality product available in the market, things settled down. Now,Century West Partners has sold its class-A, luxuryK2LA project for approximately $200 million. Thethree-building development sold to two separate institutionalbuyers in the second largest transaction in the submarket.

“The Vermont put Koreatown on the map for institutionalinvestors, and this is the second largest transaction since then,”Moran & Company's DerrekOstrzyzek, who brokered the deal, tells GlobeSt.com. “Whenthe Vermont sold, institutional investors were still hesitant. Atthe time, the question really was, 'How deep is the market forclass-A luxury units at those rents?' Now we have a pipeline aheadof us. This is the first deal that is going to open up thefloodgates to more activity there. This is a catalyst trade.”