A local private investor is behind three of the larger apartment sales seen in Orange County so far this year, paying about $74 million for complexes in Anaheim and Tustin.
Patrick Cadigan earlier this month bought the 286-unit Mariposa Apartments at 175 S. Rio Vista St. in Anaheim, a few blocks from the Orange (57) Freeway.
The complex sold for $43 million, or about $150,000 per apartment.
Beverly Hills-based real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson was the seller.
The sale reportedly closed at a 4.8% capitalization rate, which is relatively low based on the current market.
Kennedy Wilson officials said the buyer still should see good profits based on rent growth.
Monthly rents at the complex run about $1,000 for smaller apartments to about $1,500 for two-bedroom apartments.
Average monthly rent for apartments countywide is about $1,500, according to brokerage reports.
The 11.5-acre Mariposa complex was built in 1969 and is about 94% full.
The Anaheim sale comes on the heels of two other notable buys by Cadigan, who is described by the sellers as a long-standing real estate owner and investor in apartments here.
In February, Cadigan bought two complexes in Tustin. He paid $20.4 million for the 124-apartment Pinewood complex and $10.3 million for the 64-apartment Tustin Plaza.
In the Anaheim sale, Cadigan was represented by Carl Greenwood and Jim McKenzie, partners of Tustin-based Greenwood & McKenzie, a real estate company that also has a property management arm.
Greenwood & McKenzie is said to manage 10 complexes owned by Cadigan in the county, totaling 1,610 apartments.
Brokers with Phoenix-based brokerage Hendricks & Partners Inc. represented Kennedy Wilson in the Mariposa sale.
Aliso Land Sale
The U.S. Postal Service is looking to sell 25 acres of undeveloped land in Aliso Viejo.
The Postal Service paid nearly $15 million for the commercially zoned land—at 50 Liberty Road near Aliso Viejo Town Center—in the early 1990s.
Plans for the site initially called for a mail processing plant of more than 400,000 square feet. In 2007, the project’s plans were trimmed to about 340,000 square feet.
The project was put on hold in early 2009 amid the recession and a big drop in mail volume, officials said.
The agency said in a release this month that it “determined it foresees no future use for the land,” which is between a Pepsi distribution plant and a school district bus yard.
The Postal Service hasn’t announced how or when it plans to sell the land. It’s already paid more than $2 million in development fees to Aliso Viejo.
The site is about a mile away from a United Parcel Service Inc. distribution center that runs next to the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road.
Transwestern Returns
Houston’s Transwestern, one of the county’s largest property management companies, is looking to re-start its local brokerage operations.
The company hired Elizabeth Hurley to lead the effort.
She last worked at the Irvine office of Cushman & Wakefield Inc., where she specialized in office sales and leases.
Hurley is joining Transwestern as a managing senior vice president and initially is set to focus on leasing. Her duties will include representing commercial real estate owners on leases and sales, and assisting tenants with relocations and renewals.
Hurley also is set to recruit other brokers with an eye on making several hires in the near term, company officials said.
Hurley will be based in Transwestern’s Costa Mesa office.
Transwestern has been the county’s third-largest property manager for the past two years, with a local portfolio of more than 12 million square feet. It hasn’t been active in commercial brokerage operations since 2007.
Officials said they’re re-entering the brokerage market based on signs of a recovery.
Walgreens Deal
A 14,000-square-foot building that houses a Walgreens in Garden Grove has traded hands for $6.8 million, according to brokers with Irvine-based retail brokerage Pacific Commercial Investments who worked on the deal.
A unit of Los Angeles-based TIS Equities bought the building, at 12001 Euclid St. The seller was a private investor also based in Los Angeles.
Walgreens has a lease at the site that runs another 18 years. The building is part of a retail center anchored by a Ralphs grocery store.
Chris Rodriguez and Jon Selznick of Pacific Commercial represented both parties in the sale.
