Stepp Commercial Leads $17M Sale of L.A.-Area Apartment Portfolio

Increased investor interest in the Long Beach submarket continues with the $17.3 million sale of a three-property apartment portfolio arranged by Stepp Commercial.

1153 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, Calif.

1153 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, Calif.

Long Beach, Calif.—Multifamily brokerage firm Stepp Commercial has completed the $17.3 million sale of a 108-unit, three-property apartment portfolio in Long Beach. The seller, Long Beach-based Northport Realty, and two separate buyers were represented by Robert Stepp of Stepp Commercial and Bob McCabe of Real Estate Solutions.

“Stepp Commercial was able to market these properties and successfully sell them on a tight time frame as the seller was conducting a 1031 exchange into a larger multifamily asset,” said Stepp, president of Stepp Commercial. He added that the buyers plan to renovated and upgrade the properties to boost the rents up to market rates. “Additionally, unlike other Los Angeles-area cities with rent control ordinances, they saw the value in the non-rent controlled market that Long Beach has to offer,” he said.

According to Marcus & Millichap’s first-quarter 2016 report on the Los Angeles multifamily market, the Long Beach submarket saw a 6.8 percent gain in average effective rents to $1,612 per month, with pre-1970s-era properties seeing the largest gains, up 8.5 percent to $1,617 per month. The report also said that transaction volume in the Los Angeles market soared more than 30 percent, with the concentration of activity in Long Beach.

The three properties sold include:

  • 1200-1260 E. 52nd St., located in the North Long Beach Submarket, includes 44 units across six buildings that was sold for $7.2 million (or about $163,000 per unit) at a cap rate of 6.2 percent. The buyer was a Westchester-based private investor. The buildings were constructed in 1959 and contain two-, three- and four-bedroom units and one three-bedroom, single-family home. The 1.4 acre property has a landscaped courtyard, onsite laundry and 18 private garages.
  • 1870-1890 Harbor Ave and 1336 W. 19th St., located in the Westside/Harbor submarket, includes 36 units across four buildings that was sold for $5.7 million (or about $159,600 per unit) at a cap rate of 5.6 percent. The buyer was Torrance-based SBG REC LLC. The buildings were constructed in 1962 and include one- and two-bedroom units. The property includes a landscaped courtyard, onsite laundry and 24 private garages.
  • 1153-1161 Magnolia Ave., located in the Wilmore Historic submarket, includes 28 units across two buildings that was sold for $4.4 million (or about $156,200 per unit) at a cap rate of 5.6 percent. The buyer was also SBG REC LLC. The property includes a central courtyard, onsite laundry and 14 private garages.

Image courtesy of Stepp CommercialÂ