CIM Group sells Oakland portfolio to affiliated REIT for $282 million
CMCT, a real estate firm, has shifted its focus from ____ to ____.
Los Angeles-based investor CIM Group has sold a portfolio containing prominent Oakland properties for $282m to its publicly listed affiliate in the first quarter this year. The two entities claim that the move is part of their long-term investing strategy.
CIM's publicly-traded affiliate, Dallas' real estate investment trust Creative Media & Community Trust, (NASDAQ: CMCT), has acquired a majority stake in three properties located in Jack London Square in Oakland and another in the downtown area, according to documents submitted with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 2.
A 98.1% share in 1150 Clay St. a 288 unit apartment building for $145.5 Million
CIM Group manages CMCT. Its Chief Executive Officer Barry Berlin serves as a managing director of CIM and its Chief Finance Officer David Thomas is CIM's CFO. CMCT reported that CIM Group paid both taxes, not CMCT.
Karen Diehl is a spokesperson from both CIM and CMCT. She said, in an emailed message on May 4, that the two organizations have different investment strategies. CIM has a short-term holding period, whereas CMCT uses a 'long-term investment strategy'. Diehl said that both entities believed the Oakland market was a good one. She declined to elaborate on the implications of the sale for the properties involved.
CIM Group acquired the D and F3 parcels as part of its $131 Million acquisition of Oakland's Jack London Square, in 2016. It delivered the Channel House to one of the other Jack London parcels that it had purchased in 2021.
The projects at D and F3 are still in the planning stages. CIM Group was granted approval by the city in 2020 to reduce the size of the approved hotel project for F3 to 144 rooms. However, it has not yet moved forward with the updated plans. The 136-unit site D project was approved in 2022. However, the building permits were later withdrawn.
Diehl stated in an emailed message that CMCT is actively expanding its multifamily portfolio and shifting its focus away from the office sector. According to regulatory filings, its first multifamily investments are Channel House, 1150 Clay and a 75 unit apartment complex in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood. All were purchased during the first quarter of 2018. CMCT, CIM and others are working on a 550 unit apartment project in Oakland, called Town Tower. The project was initially proposed as a massive, office-style tower.