California investment firm Interstate Equities announced in late 2024 that it was buying the sprawling 468-unit Summerwood Apartments complex in Santa Clara for $203 million, marking the Bay Area's most expensive multifamily property deal in more than two years.
The sale came out to about $434,000 per unit for the 1968-vintage property at 444 Saratoga Ave., compared to a fourth-quarter average price of around $428,000 per unit, according to CoStar Senior Director of Bay Area Market Analytics Nigel Hughes, indicating a growing appetite among private equity investors for larger properties. The deal garnered a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for sale/acquisition of the year from a panel of industry professionals with knowledge of the market.
The property in Santa Clara, home to major tech companies such as Intel and Nvidia, consists of one- and two-bedroom garden-style apartment units. It borders a park on one side and a golf course on the other and features a new clubhouse and fitness center, a pool and spa, a private training room, an outdoor lounge area with a grilling station and fire pit, an on-site dog park, five laundry rooms and a business center.
The multifamily sector appeared to be leading the way toward a regional real estate recovery following the difficult post-pandemic years with $800 million in sales in the final quarter of 2024, the highest quarterly total since 2007, according to CoStar, and the traded properties included older established communities such as Summerwood as well as newer developments.
About the deal: Los Angeles-based Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap, secured nearly $128 million in agency financing on behalf of Interstate Equities Corp., a real estate investment and management firm with a portfolio of mainly residential properties in California. Terms of the five-year loan included a 5.39% fixed interest rate with 35 years' amortization and a loan-to-value of 65%.
What the judges said: "In a market where financing has become one of the greatest hurdles, securing a 5.39% fixed interest rate with a 65% loan-to-value showed resourcefulness that made this deal possible. Additionally, overcoming the significant challenge of obtaining insurance, especially with the complexities of aluminum wiring, demonstrates this team's creativity, determination, and solution-oriented mindset," said Devon Stout, senior vice president at Compass Commercial.
They made it happen: IPA played a pivotal role in the transaction, with Executive Managing Directors Philip Saglimbeni, Stanford Jones and Salvatore Saglimbeni, along with Senior Director Alexander Tartaglia, representing the seller. The IPA Capital Markets team consisting of Brian Eisendrath, Cameron Chalfant, Jake Vitta and Jesse Zarouk secured the financing.
CoStar Senior Marketing Manager Ashley McClain contributed to this report.