Built in 2019, the 64-unit Tempranillo Apartments lowers the average age of the portfolio of the California family office that purchased the complex. Photo contributed

A 64-unit, multi-family complex in North Fresno’s Woodward Park area has sold for over $19 million, marking one of the Fresno region’s most expensive sales in a few years.

Northmarq’s Fresno-based multifamily investment sales team, led by Robin Kane and his son, Brendan, brokered the deal on behalf of the seller, an East Coast-based investment group. The buyer was a California family office hoping to modernize their portfolio with new assets.

The sale was announced on June 24 by Northmarq.

The Tempranillo Apartments, located 2445 E Copper Ave., were built in 2019 and offer modern and upscale amenities including a pool, 24-hour fitness center, resident lounge and in-unit washers and dryers.

Robin Kane noted that the location was very important to the property’s value.

It is located across the street from Copper River Country Club, which won The Business Journal’s 2024 “Best Of” award for Best Golf Course to Take a Client. It is within the Clovis Unified School District and won the California Apartment Association’s “New Development of the Year” award in 2019.

Despite its relatively new construction date and desirable location, the property faced challenges prior to the sale.

 

“It was an East Coast-based owner who didn’t have any other presence on the West Coast, and he was faced with the property that unfortunately wasn’t being managed well,” Kane said. “It had 20% vacancies, and unfortunately, a large percentage of the existing tenants were still paying left over from the eviction moratorium.”

Kane said the situation required a change in management and an effort to remove the non-paying tenants.

“The problem was, you couldn’t start filling the vacancies until you dealt with the existing non-payees. It took the better part of six to eight months to finally convince those people that they needed to move,” he said.

By the spring of 2024, the seller had brought in a new management company, which initiated a tenant turnover process and addressed some of the other issues.

“There were a number of operational issues. Some of the things were left over from the construction,” Kane said, noting that the property was completed during the pandemic, which impacted finish quality and vendor reliability.

The result was worth the wait as Tempranillo was fully leased and generating income at the time of the sale.

“This thing closed 100% occupied, and it closed with no delinquency,” Kane said. “So, you know, mission accomplished.”

 

The buyer was drawn to those characteristics and saw Tempranillo as a portfolio upgrade.

“His portfolio is older, so by acquiring this property, it had a pretty substantial effect on raising the average age of his portfolio,” Kane said. “You reduce your cost per unit in terms of maintenance because it is newer.”

He added that newer assets are easier to insure and finance, particularly in a time when many aging properties face issues with electrical panels and deferred maintenance.

Bryan Paulson, senior vice president and regional manager of commercial lending at Tri Counties Bank, stated that community banks remain active in multifamily lending throughout California, particularly in the Central Valley.

“Our philosophy helped bring the Tempranillo acquisition to life,” Paulson said. “We focus on ‘relationship banking,’ getting to know our customers on an individual basis in order to find the right solutions to fit their needs.”

While the full occupancy was a factor, Paulson noted that Tri-Counties Bank also compares current rents to what the market supports, reviews how much it costs to operate the property, checks for any needed repairs and assesses how well the property is being managed overall.

Kane said the completion of the Tempranillo deal signals a shift in Fresno’s multifamily investment market.

“We’re beginning to see evidence of the pent-up demand caused by, first, the pandemic, and then by the shock of the rise in interest rates,” Kane said. “As much as things are getting better—2025 is unfolding to be better than 2024, which was absolutely better than 2023—we’re still nowhere near close to the volume we were all doing in 2018 and 2019.”