January 20, 2016
L.A.’s Koreatown continues to attract multifamily investors willing to shell out top dollar for income producing properties. Trion Properties, a private equity investment group based out of West Hollywood, has nabbed the Avalon, a 47-unit building in the heart of the evolving neighborhood, for $7.54 million, or $329 per square foot. The seller was Vista Investment Group from Santa Monica. The deal marks a record price for a brick property in the neighborhood, according to CoStar. “This transaction exemplified the strength of current market conditions and investors’ confidence in the multifamily market in Koreatown,” said Janet Neman, senior managing director at Charles Dunn Company, who brokered the deal along with colleague Bryan Glenn. “We received a lot of interest and seven offers on this asset. It is rare to find a vintage art-deco property that is exempt from rent control with a value-add component.” The transaction is a good indicator of how much prices for Koreatown properties have risen even in the past few months, thanks in part to a tightening rental market. As recently as September, TRG Investments and Century City’s Cresta Properties bought a similar property, at 808 S. Hobart Blvd., for $8.4 million, or just $230 a square foot. Other recent Koreatown deals include the $13.4 million sale of the Ancelle Apartments complex on Gramercy Drive to Champion Real Estate Company in November. The median rental price for an apartment in Koreatown was $2,601 by the end of last year, a 7.6 percent annual uptick, according to a report by Zillow. The Trion property, at 324 S. Catalina Street, is comprised of 20 studio apartments, 26 one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit. The company plans to completely renovate the property, upgrading the lobby and common areas and refacing the building’s façade. “The buyer plans on bringing rents to market rates as they become available,” Glenn said.