Standard Communities Deepens Los Angeles Investment, Buys Hundreds of Affordable Units

Deal Is One of This Year’s Largest Area Apartment Transactions

The 84-unit Rayen Park senior housing complex at 15233 Rayen St. in Los Angeles sold as part of a portfolio deal. (CoStar)

By Jack Witthaus

CoStar News

September 27, 2023 | 2:05 P.M.

One of this year's largest apartment deals in Los Angeles County has been completed despite a sales slowdown in response to rising interest rates and a higher transfer tax.

Standard Communities, a major U.S. owner of affordable housing and nonprofit partner Pacific Southwest Development, bought a portfolio of six properties totaling 407 units for $106.4 million, or about $261,425 per unit, according to a statement. That's below the greater Los Angeles average of $383,000 per unit.

Standard Communities plans to make $8 million in renovations and expects to keep the residential units affordable for the next 20 years under new Housing and Urban Development contracts, according to a statement. The seller was Culver City-based private real estate owner Goldrich Kest, according to a statement.

“The high demand for affordable rental housing in Los Angeles has created enormous investor interest in this specific product,” Dean Zander, executive vice president of CBRE, said in a statement. Zander was involved in the deal. “Occupancy rates are near historical highs with little sign of easing in the future due to the lack of new product in the pipeline.”

The deal is the fourth-largest in terms of total sales price in greater Los Angeles this year, according to CoStar data. A mere $3.4 billion in apartment properties have traded in greater L.A. in 2023, down from the more than $12 billion in sales recorded last year.

The greater Los Angeles apartment market has a 4.8% vacancy rate, up from 4% a year ago, according to CoStar data. The market's average asking rent is $2,232, up from $2,219 one year prior.

Standard Communities owns more than 1,700 units in Los Angeles County. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and New York and has a portfolio of more than 19,000 units.

For the Record

CBRE's Dean Zander, Stew Weston, Tim Flint, James Flinn, Troy Tegeler, Trevor Breaux and Ryan Greer were involved in the deal.