Legacy Partners Buys 320 Vacant Apartments for $92M in SoCal’s San Gabriel Valley

A private Southern California university has sold a vacant apartment building that was once used as student housing. 

Azusa Pacific University (APU), about 25 miles northeast of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, sold the 320-unit Citrus Place to Legacy Partners for $91.8 million. Mesa West Capital provided Legacy with a $68.5 million acquisition loan for the deal, records show. The Real Deal first reported the news. 

APU acquired the 1985-built complex at 801 East Alosta Avenue in Azusa, previously dubbed University Village Apartments, in 2015 after receiving nearly $132 million from the California Municipal Finance Authority in tax-exempt financing (which was also used for other university projects). The university used the funds to acquire the property, which at the time was a multifamily complex, for student housing. Though APU ultimately decided to sell because the property was “underutilized,” according to a recent Q&A post to APU’s website. 

“This sale provides a strategic benefit for the university by generating funds to underwrite new and existing academic programs and revitalize the campus, including improvements to student housing,” a spokesperson for APU told CO in an email.

CBRE had marketed the property for sale as a “vacant multifamily community primed for repositioning,” and Legacy Partners plans to begin leasing the property soon, according to a recent Facebook post by the Foster City, Calif.-based firm. Representatives for Mesa West and Legacy Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

APU has sold other multifamily developments in recent years. The university in late 2022 traded a three-property portfolio with a combined 316 units to Positive Investments for $81 million. The proceeds from the sale were directed toward initiatives and projects that “enhance the campus experience of its diverse student population and advance its mission,” per a CBRE notice at the time. 

APU describes itself as a “comprehensive Christian university” offering 150 degree options. The private university has a total enrollment of 6,272 undergraduate and graduate students, according to its website.

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.