Vista Investment Group in partnership with Tokyu Land US Corporation (“TLUS”), a fully-integrated real estate development and investment company, has acquired the Northridge Apartments, a 221-unit garden-style apartment community in the San Francisco East Bay submarket of Pleasant Hill for $91 million. This marks Vista and TLUS’ first partnership together.
“Renters who have been priced out of expensive markets like San Francisco and Oakland are migrating to the East Bay in search of more affordable alternatives,” said Vista Investment Group President Jonathan Barach. “They are finding that Pleasant Hill has a great school system, a robust amenity base and rents at a considerable discount to neighboring cities Walnut Creek, Lafayette and Orinda.”
Nobuhide Kashiwagi, President of TLUS, stated, “This acquisition fits well within our value-add investment strategy, and marks our first acquisition in the Bay Area. We are excited about the trajectory of growth in the market, and feel Northridge Apartments is well positioned to capture that momentum.”
Stanford Jones, Salvatore Saglimbeni, Philip Saglimbeni and Alex Tartaglia from Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller, Equity Residential, which has owned the property for more than 20 years.
“The property’s attractive location, combined with the ongoing need for high-quality, affordable multifamily assets, make it an ideal value-add opportunity for Vista and TLUS,” added IPA senior managing director Salvatore Saglimbeni.
Built in 1974, the Northridge Apartments are located at 235 Camelback Road. The studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment homes are situated in 16 low-rise residential buildings on a 6.63-acre site. Common area amenities include a clubhouse, two swimming pools, fitness center and laundry facilities. Vista’s capital improvement plan includes upgrading common areas, amenities and renovating apartment interiors as units roll.
The property is adjacent to Diablo Valley College, 2.5 miles from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Concord station, and minutes to Interstate 680, which leads to major employment centers in Walnut Creek and the Tri-Valley (San Ramon, Pleasanton and Dublin). The Pleasant Hill Shopping Center is walking distance away and the Sunvalley and Willows shopping centers are within 1.5 miles. Pleasant Hill’s downtown corridor, located 2.2 miles from Northridge, features an authentic, pedestrian-friendly retail district with more than 40 dining, shopping and entertainment options highlighted by a Century 16 Theatre.
Northridge Apartments is the latest in a series of West Coast multifamily acquisitions totaling more than $160 million since the beginning of the year for Los Angeles-based Vista Investment Group. The other assets are located in Portland, OR, and Los Angeles. Vista Investment Group’s portfolio includes more than 2,000 multifamily units and approximately 1.8 million square feet of office space throughout the West Coast, including 670,000 square feet of commercial office space in the San Francisco Bay Area.
