Multi-family Sales, Refinancing Moves in Downtown L.A.

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

National City Tower is now up for sale, according to a RenTV.com story. The historic adaptive reuse development is a residential building and is now available for purchase at the asking price of $32.8 million. The former headquarters of National City Bank of Los Angeles was erected in 1924. Representative of the Beaux Arts architectural style, it was redeveloped into a luxury residential complex in 2008.

The 12-story building contains 93 residential units, including 12 studios, 61 one-bedroom units, 16 two-bedrooms, two two-bedroom penthouses and two three-bedroom penthouses. Luxury amenities in this downtown redevelopment include a roof garden, spa, fitness center and media room.

Multi-family properties in downtown L.A. reported increased vacancies at the end of 2010, according to RenTV, reaching 11.1 percent. National City Tower has a reported occupancy rate of 95 percent.

Among other multi-family properties, Beverly Hills-based Kennedy Wilson has arranged refinancing for two of its properties, which it holds in joint venture with The LeFrak Organization. The refinancing deal totals $56.4 million in new debt and is set at an average interest rate of 4.6 percent, L.A. Business (bizjournals.com) reports. The properties are The Grove, a 331-unit community in San Jose, and Indigo Springs, a 278-unit complex in Kent, Wash.

According to L.A. Business, Kennedy Wilson was seeking to consolidate assets in important markets that are proving their strength as the market struggles to emerge from recession. The company owns 12,906 multi-family units across the Western seaboard and in Japan.