Prime Residential Buys San Diego Townhomes for $107M

Agave Ridge. Image courtesy of CBRE

Prime Residential has acquired Agave Ridge, a townhome community in San Diego’s Kearny Mesa enclave, for $107 million. Located at 7901 Harmarsh St., the two-story property comprises 369 two- and three-bedroom residences totaling 368,575 square feet. The average unit size is 1,000 square feet. CBRE represented the seller, Goldrich & Kest, while the buyer was self-represented. 

Residences offer air conditioning, large balconies or patios, stackable washers and dryers, plank flooring and microwave ovens. Topping the list of amenities is a quintet of pools.

“It’s very much in an infill location within the city of San Diego, on the south side of the huge and very central Kearny Mesa employment center, with tech, defense contractors and medical and engineering office,” Kevin Mulhern, senior member of the CBRE San Diego multifamily team, told Multi-Housing News. “It has great access to hospitals, is freeway visible and has quite a bit of acreage. And it’s all townhomes, so it really fills a niche in the market for families and housing that most other properties in the market do not fill.”

Med center adjacency

The CBRE team included Allen Chitayat, Stew Weston, Dean Zander and John Montakab, in addition to Mulhern. Earlier this week, CBRE represented the seller in a Phoenix transaction.

“Prime actually owns a lot of real estate of that vintage, and are experts in rehabilitating that kind of real estate and making it into quality housing,” Mulhern said. “A lot of the newly-built product in that market have rents that aren’t really achievable for tenants in the marketplace. This kind of mid-market-priced housing fills a demand need in the market.”

Situated immediately south of the I-805 and SR 163 interchange, Agave Ridge is directly adjacent to a pair of the largest San Diego-area medical centers, Sharp Hospital and Rady Children’s Hospital. It stands less than 2 miles from the popular San Diego dining corridor Convoy Street, and is near other major job hubs in addition to Kearny Mesa.

Also proximate are beaches, the downtown Gaslamp Quarter and outdoor shopping at Fashion Valley Center. The Old Town San Diego Historic District is a 10-minute drive from Agave Ridge, while San Diego Zoo, San Diego Natural History Museum and Tecolote Canyon Natural Park and Nature Center are all 11-minute drives. Marian Bear Memorial Park is 12 minutes away from the townhome community by car.