SAN JOSE, CALIF. — The Sobrato Organization has sold the 508-unit Willow Lake Apartment Homes in San Jose for $148 million. Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) purchased the community for approximately $291,000 per unit.
Willow Lake was built in three phrases: 282 units in 1989, 126 units in 1990 and 100 units in 1997. The community offers a range of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans averaging 929 square feet. The property features a large lake, two resort-style pools and three spas, as well as a fitness center, community lounge and business center.
Stan Jones, Phil Saglimbeni, and Sal Saglimbeni with Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a multifamily brokerage division of Marcus & Millichap, represented the seller in the transaction.
“With 12.5 percent rent growth over the last 12 months and an average occupancy of 96.4 percent, San Jose’s market fundamentals are strong and getting stronger,” says Jones. “Rental demand here is now at one of the highest levels since 2001, resulting in a year-over-year vacancy decline of 60 basis points. Furthermore, rental demand growth is predicted to exceed additions to existing stock.”
The multifamily community is located with convenient access to Caltrain and the VTA Light Rail Network. It is also just minutes from San Jose’s downtown district, which includes employers such as Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems and eBay. Employers in the surrounding Silicon Valley include Apple, Google, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, Intel and Netflix.
Founded in 1971, Essex Property Trust is a Palo Alto, Calif.-based real estate investment trust. Essex acquires, develops, redevelops and manages more than 150 multifamily properties in West Coast markets. The company’s stock price closed at $142.62 per share on Friday, up from trading at $130.87 per share one year ago.
— Brittany Biddy