West County Times:

Friday evening's East Bay Biz Buzz: Housing complex sells for $114.5 million

A PENNSYLVANIA-BASED real estate investment company has purchased a 1,008-unit Richmond apartment complex for $114.5 million in what a broker described as the largest residential property sale in Northern California since 1999.

That translated into about $114,000 per unit that GMH Associates Inc. of Newtown Square, Pa., paid to acquire the Hilltop Bayview Apartments at 3400 Richmond Parkway from Watch Holdings LLC of Newport Beach, according to a release from Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. Current monthly rents for the one- and two-bedroom apartments in Hilltop Bayview range from $975 to $1,300, according to an advertisement.

GMH, a privately held company that specializes in the acquisition of class B apartment buildings, plans to invest $8 million in the Richmond property and upgrade it into a class A property, according to the release. A unit of Fidelity Investments, the huge Boston-based mutual fund operator, also got an ownership stake in the apartments, said Phil Saglimbeni, a broker in the deal.

The 47-acre apartment property was last sold in 1997. Last year it was assessed at $57.5 million on Contra Costa County's tax rolls. Watch Holdings, the previous owner, is an affiliate of General Electric Capital Corp.

Marcus & Millichap is seeking buyers for other apartment properties with 2,400 units and a total market value of $387 million, Saglimbeni said.

East Bay Business Times - 2:40 PM PDT Friday

Richmond apartments sold for $114.5M

The 1,000-unit Hilltop Bayview Apartments has sold for $114.5 million, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co., which handled the deal.

The apartments were sold to Pennsylvania-based private real estate investment company GMH Associates Inc.

The sales price equals about $113,600 per unit and the transaction was the largest based on number of units in the Bay Area since July 1999, according to a statement from Marcus & Millichap. The new owner plans to invest about $8 million in the property to reposition it in the Class A rental market.

"We are seeing tremendous capital flow into the Northern California market from investors who are positioning for a strong recovery," said Stanford Jones, a vice president/investments and senior director of the firm's National Multi Housing Group, in a statement.

Jones, Kevin Turner and Phil Saglimbeni, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap's Palo Alto and San Francisco offices, had the exclusive listing to market the property on behalf of the Southern California seller, Watch Holdings LLC.

Jones and Saglimbeni are currently marketing several Bay Area multifamily projects totaling more than 2,400 units with an estimated value in excess of $387 million. "The investment market is definitely picking up for both apartments and condominiums," Jones said.