Private investor John Gimbel III, a San Mateo, CA-based investor, has purchased the Hermitage East Apartments, a 95-unit complex at 8021 E. Osborn Road in Scottsdale, $4.885 million. The sale price equates to $51,421 per unit.

The complex is just east of Hayden Road, one of the main thoroughfares through Scottsdale, and just less than a mile from downtown Scottsdale.

The property had been owned for 27 year by a group of private investors from Willmette, IL.

Apartment demand in metropolitan Phoenix during 2000 reached record levels, as a net 12,860 units were absorbed, according to a survey by M/PF Research Inc., an apartment industry analysis firm. The demand was strong enough to push the overall occupancy rate up 1.7 points to 95.5%. Scottsdale apartments typically garner the highest rents in the Valley. The average quoted rent is $689 Valleywide, but most apartments in Scottsdale start no lower than $700.

The Phoenix office of Marcus & Millichap, with brokers Ric Holway, Karl Abert, and Darrell Moffitt, represented the both parties in the transaction.