Lee & Associates Executes Two Transactions for $64M

Agents Cole Martens and Cory Stehr

Los Angeles—Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura agents Cole Martens and Cory Stehr represented the buyers and sellers of a complex, two-pronged multifamily portfolio transaction totaling 537 units at a combined value of a little more than $64 million.

The duo met with a private investor who owned 159 units in three multifamily buildings in the Koreatown submarket of Los Angeles. The investor has owned buildings since the 1970s and was looking to divest his 700-unit holdings and transfer into assets closer to his current portfolio and management company.

He had been seeking investment grade properties to partner with, but couldn’t find anything, which prompted the involvement of Martens and Steher.

They had earlier struck up a working relationship with a Colorado investment company with holdings in Chino and Highland, Calif. Summerwind Apartments in Highland and Amberwood in Chino were perfect, but first they needed a buyer for the Koreatown properties.

They decided to ‘soft market’ the properties because of timing issues, and brought in Prana Investments, a company focused on stabilizing and revitalizing properties in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

1057 Western Ave, One of the Koreatown properties

The first sale to close was the Koreatown portfolio, and Prana acquired the 159 units for a little more than $16 million. A week later, their private investor acquired the 378-unit Chino and Highland portfolio for more than $47 million.

“We saw an opportunity to assist two clients with whom we had forged relationships,” said Martens, “and while we knew this solution would involve a number of moving parts, we didn’t let that deter us.”

“These transactions were challenging in a number of ways, everything from geography to financing, but we both enjoy solving problems, and we couldn’t resist taking on the project.” Stehr added.