IEC, a Bay Area-based discretionary fund manager, has purchased Warner Center Townhomes, a 27-unit res property in the western San Fernando Valley community of Woodland Hills, for $11.5 mil ($426k/unit). Built in 2005, the property is located at 6737 De Soto Ave, within the upscale Warner Center submarket. The seller, an entity associated with Pacific Crest Realty, purchased the property several years earlier for $9.8 mil and had cosmetically enhanced all common areas.
“When we purchased the building, The Village at Westfield Topanga was still in the planning stages and now with its enormous success, it is reinforcing Warner Center’s position as the new Downtown of the San Fernando Valley,” commented Dan Tenenbaum, President of Pacific Crest. “The marketing effort attracted the attention of over 100 capital sources from active investors including private individuals, sponsored equity groups, and value-add experts.” Dean Zander with CBRE represented both parties in the transaction. “This closing is further proof of demand in the “value-add” space for well-located urban infill properties,” noted Zander. “Warner Center has experienced substantial growth and development highlighted by The Village at Westfield Topanga as well as continued expansion with developments including the Promenade 2035 and Uptown at Warner Center, located just west of the property.” Warner Center contains over 6 msf of Class A office space. The submarket supports over 200,000 jobs. Major employers include Sun America, Unitrin County Mutual Insurance, Farmers Insurance, Blue Cross, Life Care Assurance, Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney Health Net, Intuit, United Online, Viking River Cruises, Universal Music Group, and Wells Fargo.
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The institutional multifamily sales expert joins CBRE with a stated goal of tripling his market share in 24 months, GlobeSt.com reports EXCLUSIVELY. BY KELSI BORLAND CBRE has officially tapped Dean Zander, an institutional multifamily sales expert and industry veteran, as an EVP in the firm’s Capital Markets Group. Zander joins the firm from Berkadia, where he spent 18 years, and will focus on expanding the CBRE’s institutional multifamily investment sales presence in the Southern California markets.
“I started looking around at the landscape and tracking the flow of capital from Main Street to Wall Street and looking at where the appetite was for investing for multifamily,” Zander tells GlobeSt.com about why CBRE was a good fit for him. “Multifamily has been the favored food group for the last decade, and I think that is going to continue to grow. I wanted to be at a platform where I could take advantage of that, and have access to the relationships that a company like CBRE offers. For that reason, it was very attractive to me.” The multifamily investment sales market has grown tremendously in Los Angeles, and capital from institutional buyers has been flooding into the market. Zander thinks that this is a great time for CBRE to grow its market share here, and he is up to the task. “CBRE is deeply involved in the institutional business on a national basis and in Southern California. In Los Angeles, as a standalone region, they don’t quite have the market share that I thought that they could,” he adds. “I think it is the perfect blend of where my career has taken me and where CBRE has given me a rare opportunity to bring my experience and expertise to a shop with a terrific footprint.” While he wouldn’t comment on his exact goals, Zander expects to triple his market share in his first 24 months at CBRE. He is also looking to build a team. “My plan is to triple my market share inside of 24 months,” he says. “I am in the process of completing the build out of my team to complement the resources that are being offered from CBRE.” At Berkadia, Zander was a senior managing director and a top five producer, responsible for some headline stealing deals, including, most recently, Monterey Station for $84.5 million, Eaves Tustin for $163.6 million, and Amerige Pointe for $115.0 million. In total, he has completed more than $5 billion in multifamily sales throughout Southern California during his career. LOS ANGELES TIMES by Roger Vincent Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times Renderings of a proposed 2.6-million-square-foot development that would turn the Warner Center Corporate Park into a dense collection of residences, stores, a hotel and new offices. One of Warner Center’s one-story rambling office parks is poised to go vertical as a new era of urbanization unfolds in the Woodland Hills neighborhood.
The proposed $1-billion development by Adler Realty Investments Inc. is one of many big real estate plans coming together in Warner Center, where Los Angeles city planners are working to create another densely occupied urban hub with the appeal of a bustling city neighborhood. And there’s a lot space to work with in the asphalt plains of what is still mostly a suburban office district. Health insurer Anthem Inc., for example, is trying to sell its 26-acre parking lot to a developer interested in building a new community there. The planned building boom may help Warner Center finally achieve its original purpose. In the early 1970s, planners decided that the west Valley land, once the site of movie mogul Harry Warner’s horse ranch, should be turned into a “downtown” for the San Fernando Valley. As it developed, however, Warner Center bore only passing resemblance to the densely built urban districts people associate with that word. Today, the neighborhood is a mix of office towers that pierce a sea of cookie-cutter, low-slung office buildings served by acres of surface parking lots. Apartments and stores are mostly isolated in discreet blocks, and the whole expanse is ringed and cleaved by wide, fast-moving streets that flow to freeways. “It needs the edge that downtown L.A., Marina del Rey and NoHo have,” said Dean Zander, an executive at real estate advisory firm Berkadia. “To attract millennials, it should have more of an urban feel with bars, gathering places and social centers.” That vision is at the core of a plan adopted by the city in 2013 intended to make Warner Center feel more like a city. Officials approved zoning that allows for up to 30 million square feet of commercial space, double what currently exists. The plan also removed building height caps in most of the 1.5-square-mile district bounded by the 101 Freeway, Vanowen Street, DeSoto Avenue and Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Longtime valley landlord Michael Adler of Adler Realty recently unveiled plans to turn his suburban-looking Warner Center Corporate Park office campus into a 2.6-million-square-foot development where people could live and work. Adler and financial partner LLJ Ventures plan to demolish his 350,000-SF office park, composed mostly of islands of low-slung concrete and black-glass buildings separated by parking lots. He has applied for approval to replace the 1980s-era development with more than 1 million square feet of offices, 80,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, 1,000 residential units, 68 live-work units and a 228-room hotel. There would also be parks and pedestrian-oriented open space. Other developers have projects planned for vacant sites, but Adler plans to remake an active property. His existing complex is almost fully leased to such tenants as Allstate Insurance and U.S. Bankruptcy Court. He plans to build out the development over 15 years or more as leases expire but hopes to start on the apartments in about 18 months. “People who work in the area need more housing to keep up” with demand, he said. Zander, who rode his bicycle through the empty streets of Warner Center as a boy in the 1970s, estimates that 9,100 apartments and condominiums are in the development pipeline now and thousands more are being considered. The influx of residents along with mixed-use projects like Adler’s should help connect Warner Center’s pockets of offices, malls and apartments into a city-like neighborhood, Zander said. “There are enough new properties pending that are going to bring that sophistication to the area and hopefully straddle the lines and making it more of an urban center,” he said. Westfield, whose Warner Center retail properties draw 20 million shoppers annually, is already underway on a massive $1.5-billion project to demolish its obsolete Promenade shopping mall. Dating from 1972, it will be replaced with an expansive mixed-use complex with nearly 1,500 residences, two hotels and a concert venue. “We feel this part of Los Angeles continues to get better and better,” said Larry Green, senior vice president of development for Westfield, who grew up in Van Nuys. “It has become a more desirable place to live.” In addition to housing, plans for a new Promenade include shops, offices, hotels and a 15,000-seat arena for concerts and sports. Also envisioned are 7 acres of open space, including a 1-acre park, known as Promenade Square, that could host outdoor movie nights. The Promenade development could get underway by 2020 and could take 15 years to complete in phases. Scheduled to start next year and be completed far sooner is Westfield’s $300-million project to convert the former Sears store between Westfield Topganga and the Village shopping centers to a movie complex, along with restaurants and a “flagship” store for a prominent retail brand, Green said, Renderings of a proposed 2.6 million square foot development that would turn the Warner Center Corporate Park into a dense collection of residences, stores, a hotel, and new offices . (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Another major Warner Center project is underway at the old Rocketdyne plant on Canoga Avenue. The 47-acre site called Uptown at Warner Center will give way to a high-rise “urban neighborhood” with 4 million square feet of residences, 1.1 million square feet of offices, hotels and stores. It is to have a central park, performance spaces and pedestrian paths. In addition, the Woodland Hills-Warner Center Neighborhood Council recently approved a seven-story, 170-room hotel proposed for 5957 Variel Ave. at Oxnard Street that would replace a small office building built in 1979. The Warner Center 2035 plan is designed to unify these projects and others. It divides the area into eight districts with names such as Downtown, Uptown and Commerce, each with its own development guidelines. The plan calls for the long city blocks to be broken up with new pedestrian pathways, new streets and more crosswalks. Developers will pay fees to fund many of the changes. The city’s green light for dense development in Warner Center has made land more valuable, and some owners are hoping to cash in by selling their property to developers. Anthem Inc., which occupies a 14-story office tower at 21555 Oxnard St., recently put the surrounding 26-acre parking lot on the market, telling buyers that the city’s 2035 plan would allow them to build more than 5.5 million square feet of offices, residences, stores and hotel rooms. Anthem is typical of tenants in the Warner Center office market. The district has historically has been known as a “back office” location for big companies that need inexpensive space for scores of employees, said real estate broker Mike Longo of CBRE. It’s also been a weak office market in the past but has improved significantly in recent years. Overall vacancy is about 11%, he said, down from as high as 20% in 2010. Average rents for Class A space are about $2.70 per SF per month, compared with as much as $7 in Santa Monica and $3.50 in Encino. That’s an attraction for the developers who are planning mixed-use projects that will eventually include still more offices. The 2035 plan amounts to a welcome mat for any builder who may have a hard time finding space elsewhere in the region. “Warner Center is very favorable for developers coming in, given the lack of supply” of available land in L.A., Longo said. “It’s a really attractive place to develop.” By Samantha Goldberg The buyer plans to update the 292-unit Amerige Pointe, which is located within a historic master-planned community. Fullerton, Calif.--Amerige Pointe, a 292-unit Class A property within the master-planned Amerige Heights community, sold for $115 million, Berkadia announced. The sale, which comes out to about $394,000 per unit, was facilitated by Berkadia‘s Joe Leon, Jeff Rowerdink and Dean Zander, who represented both the seller and the buyer. The buyer and seller were not disclosed, but the last time the property sold was in 2004, when PGIM Real Estate bought the community for about $89,000 per unit from Morgan Group, according to Yardi Matrixdata. Located at 1001 Starbuck St., in North Orange County’s Sunny Hills neighborhood, Amerige Pointe comprises 17 three-story buildings and 10,300 square feet of retail space. The 12.5-acre site offers a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units as well as some townhome apartments. Units range in size from 690 square feet for a studio and up to 1,327 square feet for a three-bedroom/two-bath unit, with monthly rents of $1,994 and $2,847, respectively, according to Yardi Matrix. Unit features include detached garages, washers and dryers, 9-foot ceilings and kitchens with islands. The community offers amenities like an indoor sports court, conference room, theater, game room, fitness center and resort-style pool with spa. The property’s occupancy is currently at 96.9 percent, according to Yardi Matrix data. The buyer is described as a global fund and plans to upgrade the interiors and some of the common area spaces. “Since the interiors were over 10 years old, Amerige represented a rare opportunity to acquire an institutional-quality multifamily asset in North Orange County with a value-add component,” Zander said. The community is located across from a retail center anchored by Target and Albertson’s grocery store. It is also close to downtown Fullerton and has access to the master-planned community’s amenities, which include the Town Center with more than 400,000 square feet of retailers. Amerige Heights also offers two schools, Robert Fisler Elementary and Sunny Hills High School.“All of the schools that service this district are rated 10 out of 10,” Leon said. “This is very rare and helped create tremendous interest in this offering.” Amerige Heights has a long history, founded by brothers George and Edward Amerige in 1887. Howard Hughes chose several hundres acres in the Fullterton area to be the home of a defense research facility during the Cold War, and years later the site transformed into Amerige Heights, where walkable streets, parks, shops and community buildings were built. Community planner Peter Calthorpe has provided input on the development of the community. By Andrew Khouri Westfield Corp. wants to turn its Promenade mall into a mixed-use community with residences, hotels and offices. (Courtesy of Westfield Corp) Westfield Corp. plans to demolish its struggling Promenade shopping mall in Warner Center and replace it with a massive mixed-use complex with nearly 1,500 homes, two hotels and a concert venue. The $1.5-billion project is meant to serve as a downtown district for the West San Fernando Valley and would be an extension of Westfield’s recently opened $350-million Village at Topanga “lifestyle center” across the street. In additional to housing, plans for a new Promenade include shops, offices and a 15,000-seat arena for concerts and sports. Also envisioned are 7 acres of open space, including a 1-acre park, known as Promenade Square that could host outdoor movie nights. “Our goal is to really transform the Promenade mall into a community destination that allows people to live, work and play all in one area,” said Larry Green, a senior vice president with Westfield. The nearly 1,500 apartments would be spread out in several buildings and range from studio units to luxury villas, he said. The shopping giant still needs city approvals for the redevelopment project and has launched a website to gather community support. Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who represents the area, called the proposal from Westfield “an exciting prospect for the West Valley” but one that will be subject to significant community scrutiny. Westfield Corp. wants to turn its Promenade mall into a mixed-use community with residences, hotels and offices. (Courtesy of Westfield Corp) “It has the potential to create jobs and offer the housing that is desperately needed while ensuring that the density is kept where mass transit flows, but it must be done right,” he said in a statement. Green said the company hopes to start construction in 2020 or 2021. The project — known as Promenade 2035 — would open in phases with a target completion date of 2035. The redevelopment of the 34-acre site, at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street, would mark a major step in an effort to expand Warner Center beyond a district dominated by office parks and towers. In 2013, the City Council approved a new master plan for the area with the hopes of making it more pedestrian friendly, while adding additional housing and entertainment options. Several large projects have recently opened or are underway. Last year, Westfield opened its Village complex between the Promenade and the Westfield Topanga mall. The new open-air center features trendy restaurants, retailers, farmers market and bocce ball courts. In August, construction workers started to demolish the old Rocketdyne plant on Canoga Avenue. The 47-acre site will give way to a high-rise "urban neighbor-hood" with 4 million square feet of homes and 1.1 million square feet of offices. In all, nearly 1,300 Warner Center residential units have been built since 2012, said Dean Zander, a senior managing director with real estate advisory firm Berkadia. Developers are expected to break ground on another 1,200 units over the next year. “Warner Center has proven itself as a desirable location,” Zander said. As Warner Center has evolved though, the 43-year-old Promenade has been a drag on the neighborhood. In his statement, Blumenfield said the Promenade had become a “blighted site” subject to “intense speculation over its future” Last year, one of the center’s few remaining tenants, The Rack bar and restaurant, described the mall as a “ghost town” in a lawsuit against Westfield. The complaint alleges the company allowed the mall to “deteriorate to a mere shadow of its former self.” Green said Westfield did not let the Promenade fall into disrepair but noted that the closure of two Macy’s stores there last year “certainty affects the property.” Indeed, mall owners across the country have been struggling as department stores close and consumers buy more online or increasingly spend money on dinners, concerts and other experiences rather than a new shirt. Westfield’s response to that trend has been to pour money into its higher-end properties, creating outdoor lifestyle centers that augment traditional malls with restaurants and other leisure activities. Its Century City mall is undergoing an $800-million makeover into such a center with walking paths, gardens and a host of new eateries. Green declined to reveal a vacancy rate for the Promenade but said some businesses remain open and will be for the “foreseeable future.” Those include AMC Theatres and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant. “The Promenade is not closed,” Green said. “This is the very beginning of the process.” Weidner Apartment Homes has purchased Stonegate at Towngate, a 552-unit apartment complex in Moreno Valley, for $98.55 mil ($178k/unit) in a deal we’re told represents one of the highest prices for a single asset market rate sale in the Inland Empire in the past year. The property was sold by San Diego-based Davlyn Investments Inc, who acquired the community just after it was completed in 2007. Located in the Towngate master-planned neighborhood, the property is located at 12640 Memorial Way Dr, just southeast of the Hwy 60 and I-215 interchange. Stonegate at Towngate sits across the street from over 2.3 msf of commercial space including the Moreno Valley Mall and four associated retail centers. It is just minutes from two multi-billion dollar business parks being developed or planned within Moreno Valley.
Stonegate at Towngate is the largest apartment community in Moreno Valley and the 12th largest asset in the Inland Empire, boasting some of the most generous unit sizes and most complete amenity packages within the market. Tenants enjoy amenities including two pools and spas, an outdoor media lounge, a luxurious leasing office, fully-equipped fitness center, indoor and outdoor kitchens, a large clubhouse, business center and more, situated on over 26 acres of landscaped grounds. The complex offers mostly two- and three-bedroom units, averaging nearly 1.1k sf in size. The units feature in-suite washer/dryers, central air, nine-foot ceilings, private patios or balconies and many include a private garage as well. Dean Zander and Spencer Scott with Berkadia represented the seller in the transaction. Weidner is out of Kirkland, WA. Berkadia also arranged the new 75% LTV acquisition financing. According to Zander, “Stonegate represented a strategic value-add opportunity; with only one-third of the units upgraded to some degree. Minimal additional interior upgrades will allow the buyer to achieve a significant rent premium over the current rental rates, while maintaining very strong occupancy.” According to Realfacts Inc, the average apartment market rent in Moreno Valley has increased more than 7% over the last 12 months while maintaining one of the highest occupancy rates in the Inland Empire at 96.8%. The City of Moreno Valley reports an inventory of less than 2,400 approved multifamily units and AXIOMetrics Inc currently reports no construction activity. Rents are expected to increase further as the market struggles to meet the housing needs of the expanding population. MORENO VALLEY, CALIF. — Weidner Apartment Homes has acquired the 552-unit Stonegate at Towngate apartments in Moreno Valley for $98.5 million. The community is located at 12640 Memorial Way Drive, just southeast of the Highway 60 and Interstate 215 interchange. Stonegate at Towngate is the largest apartment community in Moreno Valley and the 12th largest asset in the Inland Empire. Berkadia’s Dean Zander and Spencer Scott represented the seller, Davlyn Investments Inc., in this transaction. Davlyn purchased the asset just after it was completed in 2007.
BY: KAREN JORDAN, BISNOW, LA
In a record-breaking deal, Tustin's eaves by Avalon just sold to Laguna Niguel's Raintree Partners for $163.55M, or more than $260k/unit. AvalonBay sold the 628-unit apartment community. The price tag is the largest for a single asset market-rate sale in Orange County in the past five years. Berkadia’s Joe Leon and Dean Zander repped the seller, to whom they sold the building in 2010, according to GlobeSt. Bisnow recently caught up with Dean. He tells Bisnow the price shows the strength of the market. It also shows optimism "rents will continue to climb as more high-paying jobs are created," he says. Average-priced houses in neighboring Tustin Legacy and Tustin Ranch are around $1M. Not only is renting more attractive to many residents, but eaves by Avalon also "offers more amenity space" and is "several hundred dollars" cheaper than some of the nearby properties, according to Dean. Raintree Partners paid "a very fair price, considering the location, amenities, unit mix, upside potential and debt structure," Dean says. The property was built in phases more than 40 years ago and borders Irvine. BY DAVID PHILLIPS TUSTIN, CA—Berkadia brokerage team has sold the property three times as the demand for high quality rental housing continues to grow here. TUSTIN, CA—A new high-water mark has been set with the $163.55 million sale ofeaves by Avalon, a 628-unit apartment complex here. The asset is located in an affluent neighborhood bordering Irvine and Tustin Ranch, and Berkadia, which brokered the deal, notes that the price equals $260,000 per unit for the property. The firm says it is the largest price tag for a single asset market rate sale in Orange County for the past five years. Built in phases starting in 1968, eaves Tustin totals 628 units in an affluent area bordering Irvine and Tustin Ranch.
“The property gathered a tremendous amount of interest from varying types of investors, all of whom were intrigued with the location, amenity space, acreage and repositioning potential, not to mention the excellent access to employment, shopping and entertainment centers nearby,” Berkadia senior director Dean Zander told GlobeSt exclusively. “Historically, institutionally-sized apartment communities in Orange County trade very infrequently, with the largest owners in the market controlling a huge majority of the housing stock in the area, and selling very rarely. (the buyer) recognized the significant scope and scale this asset would bring, and they were thrilled to add it to their portfolio totaling nearly 4,500 units throughout Northern and Southern CA.” The buyer is Raintree Partners of Laguna Niguel. The Berkadia Southern California institutional brokerage team of Joe Leon and Dean Zander, and represented the seller, to whom they sold the building in 2010. This marked the third time in the past decade the team sold this community. “Eaves Tustin is the epitome of a value-add opportunity,” Leon said. “With the planned interior upgrades the buyer will achieve a significant rent premium over the current rental rates, and still remain at rates below the newer competitive set nearby.” Built in phases between 1968 and 1972, eaves Tustin is situated in an affluent neighborhood bordering Irvine and Tustin Ranch, where the median priced single-family home is above $1.2 Million. Property amenities include multiple pools and spas, two regulation tennis courts, a remodeled leasing office and fitness center, large clubhouse and more, situated on lots totaling over 26 acres. Apartment homes featured in-suite washer/dryers and many included a private garage or patio space. “eaves by Avalon” is located at 13921 Tustin East Drive, just off Interstate 5 within close proximity to over 500,000 jobs in Orange County, in addition to being convenient to Disneyland, South Coast Plaza and John Wayne Airport. Zander added “the immediate neighborhood is considered an affordable alternative to the Irvine market, and Tustin has enjoyed recent average market rent increases above 6% while still maintaining one of the lowest vacancy rates in Orange County at just 3.7%.” With high barriers to entry in the immediate area, the rents and occupancy rate are expected to increase further as the market struggles to meet the housing needs of an expanding population, he said. As one of the largest real estate multifamily services firms in the country, Berkadia incorporates capital markets knowledge with local real estate expertise and deals with any type of multifamily transaction, regardless of size or complexity. Berkadia apartment advisors average more than 25 years of multifamily experience in each of their local markets and, in aggregate, have completed more than $80 billion in apartment transactions. Berkadia offers the services of more than 1,300 experienced industry professionals who operate from 75 offices in major and secondary markets throughout the country. Arlington, VA-based AvalonBay sold ‘eaves by Avalon,’ a 628-unit apartment community in Tustin, CA to Laguna Niguel, CA-based Raintree Partners for $163.5 million. The transaction represents the largest price for a single asset market rate sale in Orange County in the past 5 years.
Built in phases between 1968 and 1972, eaves Tustin is a value-add opportunity situated in an affluent neighborhood bordering Irvine and Tustin Ranch. Among the amenities at the 26-acre site are pools and spas, tennis courts, a remodeled leasing office and fitness center, and large clubhouse. Berkadia’s Southern California institutional brokerage team of Joe Leon and Dean Zander represented the seller, as well as the buyer in the transaction. This marks the third time in the past decade the team sold this community. |
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