South Bay Multifamily Market Zealous

LOS ANGELES-The South Bay multifamily market is experiencing steep competition from private investors due to limited supply, according to Ron Harris and Greg Harris, EVPs at Institutional Property Advisors, a multifamily brokerage division of Marcus & Millichap. M West Holding‘s recently reported purchase of the Milano Apartments complex in the South Bay community of Torrance is a prime example of the tight multifamily supply. Ron and Greg advised the seller, 20900 Anza Avenue Apartments LLC, in the disposition of the property, along with IPA directors Kevin Green and Joseph Grabiec.

M West Holdings was one of 14 potential buyers to bid on the property. It eventually purchased the 248-unit complex for $60.75 million, or $245,000 per unit. “There were double digit offers on this property consisting of large private buyers or large private buyers that were partnering with institutional equity who saw this as a great opportunity,” Ron tells GlobeSt.com. In recent years, the South Bay has had 2 million square feet of creative office space come online. Continental Corp. and Mar Ventures also recently launched a 15-builing, 210,000-square-foot speculative office building in El Segundo to accommodate the tremendous demand in the South Bay for creative office. However, only 1000 new apartment units have been built since the early 2000s. Ron adds that an institutional-sized apartment complex has not come online in the South Bay since 1989.