CBRE Closes Inland Empire Sale

By Ariela Moraru

Evart Street Apartments, Montclair, Calif.

Mak and Wen Management Inc. acquired an apartment complex in Montclair, Calif., for $8.9 million or $130,000 a unit. According to CBRE, the transaction was completed for one of the highest per-square-foot prices for a multifamily property in the Montclair/Pomona market. The brokers represented both the buyer and the sellers, Evart Montclair LLC and CP Montclair LLC, of the 68-unit asset.

Located at 4205-4251 Evart St. on a 1.5-acre lot, Evart Street Apartments provide studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments and had a 95.6 percent occupancy rate last month, according to Yardi Matrix. The 34,212-square-foot property features a renovated new common area with fresh landscaping, barbecue facilities and sundeck units.

Upside potential

“This is the third time we have sold this property in the last two years,” said CBRE’s Eric Chen in prepared remarks. “The value today is 42 percent higher than the first sale in March of 2015. The groups that have owned this asset have created additional value, but have also left upside for the next buyer.” The eight-building asset was built in 1961 and about 60 percent of the apartments have also undergone a revamp, providing the new owner with further upside potential.

The going-in cap rate of 5.3 percent and further value-add opportunity appealed to the buyer, given the difficulty to acquire a sizable multifamily asset in the Southern California market, according to Dan Blackwell, who worked with Chen in the transaction. Rents in Upland/ Alta Loma, Corona, Murrieta/Temecula and Montclair/North Ontario crossed the $1,500 threshold during the past year, higher than the Inland Empire’s average rent of $1,365, according to the latest Inland Empire Yardi Matrix report. The average rent in the Inland Empire was up 4.7 percent year-over-year through July, nearly double the national rate of 2.6 percent.

Image courtesy of CBRE