Bascom Pays $500K Per Unit for Palos Verdes Multifamily

The Bascom Group has picked up a 257-unit apartment complex in Rancho Palos Verdes for $127 million, with plans to renovate its 53-year-old interiors.

The Irvine-based private equity firm bought the Highridge Apartments at 28125 Peacock Ridge Drive, from Essex Property Trust, based in San Mateo, Commercial Observer reported.

The deal works out to $494,163 per unit.

Brokers Blake Rogers and Kevin Sheehan of JLL represented the seller. JLL brokers Annie Rice and Jamie Kline arranged a loan for the buyer secured by the property from AXA Investment Managers for an undisclosed amount.

The apartment complex, built in 1972, is one of only three with over 100 units across Rancho Palos Verdes, according to Bascom, with units 21 percent larger than the average apartment in the city.

The firm said it plans to renovate the apartments and upgrade the complex to make it more “resort-style.” The estimated cost of the planned renovations was undisclosed.

Monthly rents range from $2,250 for a studio to $4,245 for a three-bedroom apartment, some with ocean views, according to Apartments.com. The complex has two pools and spas, a tennis court and a 24-hour fitness center.

“Highridge Apartments is located in a highly competitive market with one of the tightest vacancy rates in all of Los Angeles County,” Chad Sanderson, senior principal at Bascom, said in a statement.

Nine-figure deals for apartment complexes in the South Bay aren’t as common as in the north end of L.A., but such investments have been picking up, according to CO.

In January, North Carolina-based Bell Partners landed a $73 million refinancing loan tied to the 216-unit Bell South Bay Apartments in El Segundo.

In Torrance, Tokyo-based Koto Estate Company paid $71.5 million for The Highlands, a 121-unit property less than four miles northeast of Bascom’s new property in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The Bascom Group, founded in 1996 by Jerry Fink, David Kim and Derek Chen, has completed more than $21 billion in multifamily deals for more than 100,000 homes, plus more than $4 billion in commercial value-added transactions, according to its website.

In January 2024, Bascom and Realm Group defaulted on a $32.9 million loan linked to a development site for a 37-story, 422-unit residential tower at 675 South Bixel Street in downtown Los Angeles.

In November, Bascom sold a 406-unit apartment complex at 2414 North Tustin Avenue in Santa Ana for $129.2 million, or $318,227 per unit. Bascom bought the ninth-largest multifamily complex in the city in 2017 for $94 million, or $231,527 per unit.

— Dana Bartholomew