Sold for a record price of $330 million.
By Dolores Quintana
The Irvine Company has sold 1221 Ocean Avenue to the real estate development trust Douglas Emmet as reported by The Real Deal.com for the record price of $330 million in Santa Monica.
It is a 120-unit complex and the total price breaks down to about $2.7 million a unit or $1,800 per square foot, as discovered through public filings. The REIT purchased the complex on April 26.
Another complex that was sold for a large sum in Santa Monica was a 38-unit property, also on Ocean Avenue, that was sold in October of 2021 for $70 million or $1.8 million per unit. This was another one of the most expensive deals on record in California according to local media reports and CBRE.
The REIT and another unnamed company partnered together to buy the property at 1221 Ocean. This partnership was created to buy the property and the REIT owns 55% of the property itself. The partnership was able to secure a $175 million loan, secured and non-recourse interest only, that will mature in 2029 according to public documents. A company named Eastdil Secured is an advisor on the deal.
Neither The Irvine Company nor Douglas Emmett were willing to comment on the venture and Eastdil Secured would not comment either.
The building was known to be a popular address among celebrities in Santa Monica. Such luminaries as Britney Spears, Larry David and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson were alleged to have lived in the building which had an average unit size of 1,500 square feet and a deck on the roof. .
With this sale, The Irvine Company of Newport, which is one of Orange County’s first developers, no longer has any residential property in Los Angeles. They do have a few office buildings left like the Century City tower building at 2121 Avenue of the Stars which is where former Governor and President Ronald Reagan had offices.
On the other hand, Douglas Emmett has two other apartment buildings in Santa Monica and six other complexes in Brentwood, one in Westwood, near UCLA. The REIT controls the Gateway Los Angeles and the Warner Center Tower II office buildings.
