504 Wood Ranch Units Change Hands

SIMI VALLEY, CA-Two apartment complexes in the Wood Ranch development comprising 504 units have changed hands in a private investors sale to Walnut Creek-based Sequoia Equities, which earlier this year closed a large apartment deal in Orange County.

The two properties acquired by Sequoia were Village Club and The Overlook Apartments at 241 Country Club Dr. They will be renamed The Villas at Wood Ranch.

According to Berkshire Mortgage Finance, the buyer secured $51.75 million in Freddie Mac financing for the acquisition as part of a 1031 exchange in which Sequoia sold The Fountains Apartments in Cupertino. The two local complexes that Sequoia bought are about a mile apart and are operated as one single property. Built in 1985-1986, the complexes include 31 buildings, with 372 units at the former Village Club and 132 units at the former Overlook complex.

The complexes feature pools, clubhouses, fitness centers, spas, tennis courts and a miniature putting green. The new owner intends to rehabilitate the property at a cost of $4.55 million, with the renovations scheduled at the rate of approximately 20 units per month and due to be finished in about two years. The rehab will include modernization of the units, painting, asphalt repair, siding replacement, and pool renovations and upgrades.

Sequoia Equities owns more than 30 apartment complexes in California, including the 332-unit Shadowridge complex at 1987 Ridgegate Lane here, as well as a number of other Southern California properties. Earlier this year, in one of the largest Orange County apartment transactions in some time, Sequoia and San Rafael-based Rutherford Investments purchased the Alicante at Aliso Viejo Apartments, a class A property at 27662 Aliso Creek Rd. in Aliso Viejo, for $66.3 million. The seller in that transaction was a joint venture between Connecticut-based CIGNA/TimesSquare and San Diego-based Fairfield Residential.