$37M Returns Pacific Property Co. to OC Market

GARDEN GROVE, CA-Pacific Property Co. of Palo Alto has paid $37.5 million for the 245-unit Rancho Valencia apartments at 9155 Central Ave., a deal that closely follows the company’s recent purchase of a Corona complex in the nearby Inland Empire for $62.5 million. Pacific bought the Garden Grove complex from Morgan Stanley in what was one of approximately 10 apartment transactions in Orange County this year involving complexes of 100 units or more, reports Aaron Pacillo, Pacific’s Irvine based acquisition manager. The sale was brokered by Sean Deasy and Ray Eldridge of CB Richard Ellis.Pacillio described the appeal of the investment: “The asset’s North Orange County location and the fact that there are very few deals that trade hands in this closely held market initially drew our attention to the deal.” Pacillo adds that the property represented “a unique asset” with “a low density feeling among the one and two story buildings, large park-like open spaces, multiple pools, split levels, fireplaces, vaulted ceilings, garages and average units approaching 1,000 sf.”

The Garden Grove submarket enjoys strong investment fundamentals, with no new units soon to be completed in the city, Pacillo notes, and it also benefits from high Orange County housing prices that “have soared out of reach for most renters,” he says. The Rancho Valencia complex was constructed in phases beginning in 1967 and will be managed by Alliance Residential. The transaction represents one of more than a dozen joint-venture partnerships, totaling more than $500 million, between Pacific Property and GMAC Commercial Mortgage.The purchase of Rancho Valencia marks the second significant acquisition by Pacific’s Irvine Office in recent weeks. In August, Pacillio closed Baywood Villas, a 628-unit property in Corona that it bought on a direct basis from Astani Enterprises of Beverly Hills for $62.5 million.