- What Brookfield and Corebridge Financial have sold a downtown San Francisco apartment building
- Why Brookfield initially shopped L Seven in July 2019
- What next The deal represents the first single-asset apartment-property transaction in San Francisco to exceed US$100m since October 2019
Brookfield and Corebridge Financial sold a 410-unit multifamily complex in downtown San Francisco for nearly 50% less than the whisper price floated during the market’s peak five years ago, Green Street News can reveal.
Chicago-based fund operator Waterton on Sept. 12 scooped up L Seven, in the SoMa neighborhood, for US$177.5m ($241.4m), or US$433,000/unit. Eastdil Secured represented the sellers.
The deal represents the first single-asset apartment-property transaction in San Francisco to exceed US$100m since October 2019, when Brookfield paid US$311m, or US$672,000/unit, for the 463-unit Mosso, at 900 Folsom Street.
The city did see a massive multifamily portfolio transaction in December, in which a Brookfield joint venture took control of 2,149 units across 75 properties, but that deal involved a US$513m purchase of debt Brookfield and Ballast Investments used to take control of the properties, according to sister publication Commercial Mortgage Alert.
L Seven, a seven-building complex at 1222 Harrison Street, was completed in 2017 and is 93% occupied. Brookfield initially shopped it in July 2019 with expectations it would fetch about US$328m, or US$800,000/unit, but no sale occurred.
The 3.5-acre property comprises studio to two-bedroom apartments averaging 852 sq ft, including 62 affordable units. Interiors have quartz counters, tile backsplashes, stainless-steel appliances and custom cabinets. The average rent, including market-rate and affordable units, is US$3,084, or US$3.62/sf.
Amenities include coworking space, a fitness center, a rooftop garden, a lounge and an entertainment room. The property also has a 338-space underground garage, 16,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space and roughly 8,300 sq ft of office space, which is fully occupied by Atmo, an artificial intelligence-based weather-forecasting firm.
The property is within a half-mile of Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 101, which provide access to employment corridors across Silicon Valley. The San Francisco Caltrain Station is a mile away.
The surrounding SoMa neighborhood — short for South of Market — is home to several technology employers, including Airbnb, Pinterest, Stripe, Uber and Zynga. The sales campaign notes that the L Seven complex is poised to benefit from its proximity to rapid growth of firms in the area focused on artificial intelligence.
