Verona Apartment Complex in Westlake Village Sells for $8.2 Million

The Verona, a 16-unit multifamily property in Westlake Village, has sold for $8.15 million, according to listing brokerage Marcus & Millichap Inc. in Calabasas. Part of the Bellagio Villas residential park, the Verona at 3200-3240 Foothill Drive, encompasses three floors and a total of 17,878 square feet. The $509,375 per unit price marks the highest per-apartment sale ever in the Westlake Village submarket, the brokerage said. Rick Raymundo, executive director of National Multi Housing Group at Marcus & Millichap Los Angeles, represented seller 7337-7341 Variel LLC, which had owned the asset for more than 15 years. Todd Leslie of JP Morgan Chase Bank provided the financing for the deal. The Verona sale closed high despite bleak economic conditions suddenly brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. There were other existential problems on the deal as well, according to Raymundo. “We had to overcome more external challenges during this transaction than any other in my 20 years in the industry,” the broker said in a statement. “Earlier in the marketing period, California passed AB 1482, its statewide rent control law, which directly impacted The Verona’s allowable rent increases and increased the timeframe in which a new owner could realize the property’s rent upside. This reduced the potential buyer pool and caused some buyers to require a higher going-in CAP rate in order to purchase. More recently, the COVID-19 outbreak hampered the appraisal process, and caused the lender to severely tighten its underwriting criteria days prior to loan approval. Despite the hurdles, we were able to achieve a final sales price for our client that was 99 percent of the $8.2 million asking price.” The sales price equates to a value of over $455 per square foot, which also set a record as the highest price per square foot ever in Westlake Village, as well as in neighboring Thousand Oaks, according to CoStar data. The Verona sale comes mere months after a transaction involving 7231 Alabama Ave. in Canoga Park, where 10 units sold for $2.5 million, or $247,500 per unit, in December; and the November 2019 sale of 22 units at 22761 De Valle St. in Woodland Hills for $10.8 million, or $488,636 per unit.