Apartment Complex Trades in High-Demand Area of Suburban San Diego
Deal Topping $72 Million Among Largest of Year in North County Region
Rockwood Capital acquired the 126-unit multifamily property known as The Rylan in Vista, California, north of San Diego. (Walker & Dunlop)
By Lou Hirsh
CoStar News
December 21, 2022 | 2:58 P.M.
An apartment sale topping $72 million in Vista, California, is among the largest of the past year in San Diego's North County region, underscoring strong suburban demand among investors and renters.
Rockwood Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, purchased the 126-unit property known as The Rylan from developer Streetlights Residential of Dallas for approximately $72.5 million or $575,000 per unit, according to public data and brokerage firm Walker & Dunlop, which represented the buyer and seller. Built in 2020, the complex is located at 100 Main St.
The deal ranks, based on total price, as the fifth largest of the year in the North County area and the 18th largest in the San Diego region, according to CoStar data. The per-unit price was well above the average $453,000 paid in North County and $448,000 paid in the San Diego region.
Walker & Dunlop managing director Hunter Combs said in a statement that the sale of The Rylan presented prospective buyers with the opportunity to buy a relatively new property in the heart of downtown Vista, where apartment construction traditionally has been infrequent. Also, the property is near regional freeways including state Route 78 and interstates 5 and 15, about 40 miles north of downtown San Diego.
The North County area has among the San Diego region’s lowest apartment vacancy rates, trending toward an all-time low at 2.6%, according to a CoStar Market Analytics report. The rate currently is below the overall regional rate of 3.5%. North County’s rent growth during the past year was 5.6%, topping the regional rate of 5.2%.
“This area remains among the most active submarkets for investors, especially among value-add buyers,” Joshua Ohl, director of CoStar Market Analytics in San Diego, said in a report on North County apartments. “With high interest among both institutional and local parties, sales volume is typically among the highest in the metro.”
North County apartment sales totaled $508 million during the past 12 months, down 1.8% from the prior year. The pace of sales was better than that of the overall San Diego region, which posted $4.4 billion in sales for a 24.6% decline.
Ohl noted North County’s apartment demand is bolstered by a growing cluster of technology companies along Route 78, the presence of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near Oceanside and other employers based in Carlsbad, which is adjacent to Vista.