Zander tells GlobeSt.com that the buyer, Prometheus Real Estate Group of Northern California, plans to spend about $30,000 per unit to upgrade the property in order to take advantage of the hot Hollywood apartment market. He explains that rents for class A apartments have grown by 9% to 14% in Hollywood over the last year, so the new owner sees considerable upside in upgrading.

Prometheus bought the Serravella from Security Properties of Seattle. Zander notes that the property attracted broad interest from a host of bidders that included high net worth individuals, pension funds, REITs and others.

Zander and Leon also partnered on the sale of the Olivewood, where Zander says that the complex holds the potential for significant upside through upgrading units and common areas. He explains that the complex benefits from an infill location and barriers to entry in the market, where no new market-rate apartments have been developed in more than 11 years.

Buyer Interstate Equities of Los Altos acquired the Olivewood from a group of private investors in Fullerton, called Olivewood Partners LLC, that had owned the property over 20 years. The complex is in a submarket where rents have grown by an average of 6.7% over the past five years. The property has a unit mix of 66% two-bedroom apartments and is located within five minutes of more than 2.5 million sf of retail space, including two regional malls.

The complex consists of a single-story maintenance/clubhouse building and nine two-story buildings situated on 5.2-acres that includes more than 300 feet of landscaped frontage on South Street. Another bonus, Zander points out, is that the City of Lakewood has no rent control restrictions.

In the Pasadena transaction, Zander refers to the deal as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for the right buyer to step into a pristine, unrenovated property in “an irreplaceable location within one of the strongest sub-markets in the nation.” Calera Investment Group of Santa Clara bought the complex from DMC Investment Group Inc. of Los Angeles at a price above asking.

Calera plans to spend more than $15,000 per unit on interior and exterior renovations that will likely result in post-renovated market rents that are 20% to 25% higher than today's average of $1,708. Glendale is considered “job- rich” with more employees than residents, he notes, with single family homes in the immediate vicinity of the Casa Vaquero commanding prices north of $1 million and apartment vacancy still near 2% with a 10% average rent increase.

The apartment complex occupies a site of nearly two acres in the Glendale foothills. It consists of three wood-frame and stucco residential buildings of three stories and a two-story community building, with units ranging from studio to two bedrooms.