Lake Merritt Property Change in Rent Control Designation Results in Record Sale Price

A 25 unit residential property along Lake Merritt, which sold for $3.2 million in 2013, recently sold for $11 million, after the new owners invested $4 million in capital improvements. According to Paragon Commercial Brokerage’s Ben Weil, the capital improvements were a major factor in changing the rent control designation for the property to a no rent control designation.

The property, located at 1824 Lakeshore Avenue, was originally built in 1953, and has 23 one bedroom/one bath units and two two bedroom/one and one-half bath units, and was fully leased at the time of the sale. The property sold for $727 per square foot and $440,000 per unit, the highest price ever paid per square foot and per unit in Oakland for a property larger than 10 units.

The biggest factor in limiting property values in Oakland is rent control. Investors generally aren’t willing to purchase a property which will have a negative cash flow, because the rents collected aren’t enough to cover the costs. By making enough of an investment per square foot in property improvements, which included adding shear walls, replacing all windows, half the framing of the building, along with new building systems, solar panels and a rooftop deck, the rent control designation could be changed.

Changing the rent control designation was not the original intention of the building improvements, and no evictions were made as part of the change in status. But some residents were bought out of their apartments. The units are now very high quality, and right on the lake, making them highly desirable rental units.

About Anian Tunney

Anian Tunney is an agent broker with The Grubb Company. According to statistics collected by East Bay Regional Data, Inc., she was the 2014 number one real estate agent in Piedmont, CA for the number of units sold and sales volume. In 2014 she was The Grubb Company company-wide top producer. Additionally, Tunney has been number 1 in yearly real estate sales for The Grubb Company’s Piedmont office for the last 8 years. Anian was also ranked 129th in the Nation by REAL Trends the Thousand in July 2015. She is known for her knowledge, experience, and network in the Piedmont community; qualities which are invaluable for finding that special home or buyers for her clients.

A fifth generation Piedmont resident, Tunney has been with the Grubb Company for over 30 years. She raised her family of four in Piedmont and is active in community projects such as the Piedmont Beautification Foundation, the East Bay Museum Auxiliary, and the Piedmont school district. Her grandmother, Amy Sutton, was a real estate agent, and now Anian works with her daughter Adrienne Krumins, making Piedmont Realty truly a family vocation. Tunney negotiates with grace and clarity of purpose. She can be contacted at 510-339-0400 ext 217, and at tunney(at)grubbco(dot)com. Her website isaniantunney.com.

Contact Information

Anian Tunney, Piedmont CA real estate agent broker associate

The Grubb Company Real Estate Brokers
Oakland, CA 94611
510-339-0400 ext 217
tunney(at)grubbco(dot)com
aniantunney.com
aniantunney.com/blog

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