Bell Partners Buys Multifamily Complex In San Francisco For $206M

Bell Partners has added to its growing footprint in the Bay Area with a $206M purchase of a 260-unit multifamily complex in South San Francisco that provides housing for one of the hottest biotech hubs in the nation.

Bell Partners, a multifamily asset management firm based in Greensboro, NC, purchased the Cadence Apartments—which will be renamed Bell South City—from a partnership of Saris Regis Group of Northern California (SRGNC) and the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust.

The multifamily complex, which opened in 2019 and includes units that rent for as high as $5,400/month, is adjacent to the biotech employment hub of San Francisco’s Oyster Point, which is anchored by Genentech’s headquarters.

According to a report in the San Francisco Business Times, the transaction cost for the apartment complex acquisition translated into approximately $793K per unit.

Bell Partners made the acquisition on behalf of its Bell Apartment Fund VII investors.

“Bell City South is an exciting addition to our West Coast portfolio and complements our strategy of investing in transitioning urban submarkets,” said Nickolay Bochilo, EVP of Investments at Bell Partners, in a statement. “The asset is well-positioned for the momentum we see underway in the recovering Northern California multifamily market.”

Downtown South San Francisco is experiencing a strong recovery from pandemic lows thanks to its booming biotech sector and a rebuilt Caltrain station that is attracting transit-oriented housing development to the area.

Saris Regis Group said it will continue to build new housing in the Cypress Ave. neighborhood where Bell City South is located. According to SRGNC, occupancy rates at the multifamily complex have been close to 95%.

“Sares Regis remains committed to our strategy of densifying near transit and developing a second phase with additional new apartments, which we broke ground on a few months ago,” said Drew Hudacek, SRGNC CIO.

Despite the biotech boom in the area, the existing housing stock in the Cypress Ave. area still is primarily single-family homes.

Bell Partners has aggressively raised nearly $1B from investors for a series of funds it has launched since the beginning of last year aimed at acquiring a portfolio of multifamily properties.

Bell Partners has been targeting a spectrum of apartment types, including affordable offerings in lower-density suburbs to high-end properties in infill locations. Target markets include Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Nashville, Raleigh and the San Francisco Bay Area.