The Mogharebi Group has announced the $127M sale of Regency Palms, a 310-unit gated multifamily community in Huntington Beach.

The transaction was arranged by Mogharebi Group Senior Vice Presidents Brett Bayless and Bryan LaBar and associate adviser Nick Earl. That sale price works out to just under $410K per unit.

The sale is one of the largest multifamily transactions in Orange County in the last 12 months, according to a release announcing the transaction.

The seller is described in the release as an undisclosed institutional investment firm that owned the property for nearly 30 years. Property records show that the last buyer, in 1996, was an entity of Equity Residential.

It sold it to an undisclosed private buyer based in Orange County. Property records don't yet reflect the latest sale. 

“Private investors are taking advantage of a period of buyer hesitation, with institutional capital either remaining on the sidelines or showing constraint in acquisition valuations,” Bayless said in the release.

Equity Residential is embroiled in lawsuits brought by Southern California tenants who say that the background check process carried out by the company was performed incorrectly and to the tenants' detriment. The company also faces a class-action lawsuit concerning late fees.

Another big multifamily deal was struck in late December, when owner and operator Advanced Real Estate bought the 714-unit Grand Costa Mesa in Costa Mesa for approximately $234M, or about $328K per unit. The seller was an entity related to Camden Property Trust.