MWest Holdings Pays $49M for 94 Luxury Units in SoCal
By Greg Cornfield February 22, 2022 4:55 pm
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The multifamily machine of Southern California is pushing more investment sales following a record-breaking year.
Sherman Oaks-based MWest Holdings has agreed to pay $48.5 million for a 94-unit luxury building called 442 Residences in Long Beach. The deal pencils out to approximately $515,957 per unit. It follows shortly after MWest unloaded a 306-unit building in Paramount, just outside of Long Beach, for $128.5 million.
Newmark (NMRK) announced the latest deal and represented the seller, Ensemble Real Estate Investments.
Ensemble — which owns at least eight other properties in Long Beach, according to its website — completed 442 Residences in 2019. It’s located at 442 West Ocean Boulevard, one block from the Metro Blue Line.
“Ensemble is pleased to complete our first full-cycle multifamily development within our growing platform, which includes 1,200 units breaking ground in 2022,” Ensemble’s Tyson Sayles said in a statement. “We remain committed to our roots in Long Beach and look forward to opening our newest addition to the downtown community, The Magnolia, a 142-unit amenity-focused luxury multifamily development arriving in April.”
Multifamily investment is surging throughout the country, followed by soaring average rental rates. According to Newmark’s research, national absorption surged to 673,478 units in 2021, far outpacing the new supply of 358,734 units.
Long Beach is experiencing a residential development boom and subsequent multifamily sales. Newmark’s Anthony Muhlstein said Long Beach has seen over $3 billion in recent private and public investment. In the past couple of months, investment firm Gelt agreed to pay $156 million for a 271-unit community completed last year in downtown Long Beach, and Onni Group is redeveloping a retail center into a multifamily community.
“Long Beach presents tremendous value compared to other coastal markets with its deep walkable amenity base,” Newmark’s Kevin Shannon said. “Demand has and will continue to grow, fueling attractive rent growth in this submarket.”
Newmark’s Shannon, Muhlstein, Ken White and Chris Benton represented the seller. It wasn’t immediately clear who represented the buyer.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
