By Greg Cornfield
The owners of a 200-unit property in a suburban city on the east side of Los Angeles County have scored an 87 percent profit about five years after first acquiring it.
Benedict Canyon Equities sold the Twelve31 Apartments in West Covina for $80.4 million to private L.A.-based apartment investor Ron Nasch in a 1031-exchange. Property records show the firm paid $43 million to acquire the complex in September 2016.
CBRE announced the sale, and said the seller recently completed a $4.9 million renovation on the complex at 1231 West Francisquito Avenue.
Twelve31 Apartments includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 873 square feet. The property also features a swimming pool and spa, as well as a fitness center. Online listings for the site show asking rent at $2,295 to $2,925 per month.
“The city of West Covina has experienced significant rental growth, averaging 6.32 percent per annum over the last six years,” said CBRE’s Stewart Weston, who along with colleague Dean Zander represented the seller. “We expect continued growth in this submarket as tenants continue to migrate to the San Gabriel Valley looking for affordable housing and the abundance of job opportunities available.”
The most recent USC Casden Economics Forecast projects triple-digit dollar rent increases over the next two years for multifamily properties throughout Southern California, with the highest jumps hitting suburban markets outside of urban centers.
Nasch, president of Fairmont Management, owns other multifamily properties in the region. His firm paid $60 million for a 115-unit property in Glendale in October 2020, and manages five other properties, according to its website.
Benedict Canyon Equities and Fairmont Management were not immediately available for comment.
The original article can be viewed here.