PASADENA, CA—A private investor has purchased a two-property portfolio in Old Towne Pasadena for $42.6 million from a private party. The portfolio consists of four buildings: two multifamily buildings with a total of 91 units and two freestanding retail buildings.

“The seller felt that the market timing was right to attract strong offer activity and achieve a good price,” Ron Harris, an EVP at Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap serving the needs of institutional and major private real estate investors, tells GlobeSt.com. Harris represented the seller in the transaction along with IPA director Paul Darrow. The seller was right. The sale attracted 32 interested parties who toured the properties and generated 17 offers from potential buyers.

According to Harris, the sale drew interest from “a true mix of institutional buyers, private buyers with institutional equity and pure private buyers.” The buyer to win the bid was in the latter group. “Interest was particularly high because of the location of the property—an A+ location just of the “main-on-main” corner of Colorado Blvd. and Fair Oaks,” Harris says.

The two multifamily buildings are Palermo, located at 22 West Green St., and Messina, located at 65 West Dayton St. Palermo has 48 units with a mix of one-bedroom, one-bath units and two-bedroom, two-bath units, all with nine-foot ceilings, granite countertops and in-unit washer and dryers. The building has one vacancy and ground floor retail space that are fully leased. Messina has 43 units, also with a mix of one-bedroom, one-bathroom units and two-bedroom, two-bathroom units. The units have similar amenities to the Palermo.

“Multifamily demand is extremely high in this particular pocket with most buildings in the area over 95% occupied,” says Harris. “Although there is newer apartment construction nearby, the demand among employers for high paying jobs in the immediate area fuels a very strong tenant base that is looking for quality multifamily units.” Higher-end apartment product in the area generates rents of $2.60 to $3 per square foot, but this property along with other properties nearby generate slightly higher rents.

The retail properties are located at 60 West Green St. and 70 West Green St. Each building has 5,750 square feet of rentable space. Both are fully occupied by Design Within Reach and Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese barbecue restaurant.

In nearby South Pasadena, the historic Rialto Theater has recently been brought to market. The current owners, the Jebbia Family Trust and Wells Fargo are looking for a buyer with the capital to revitalize the historic building.