Pacific Gulf Sustains Buying Momentum With 11 More Purchases

Pacific Gulf Properties Inc. in Newport Beach said Thursday that it has nearly acquired 11 Southern California apartment projects for $72 million.

When completed next week, the acquisition will boost the real estate investment trust’s asset size to $280 million, more than double the size it was a year ago.

“We’ve grown quite a bit in a short period of time,” said Glenn L. Carpenter, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Gulf, which owns apartments and industrial properties in California, the Pacific Northwest and Texas.

Eight of the 11 apartment projects, located in West Covina and Diamond Bar, with a total value of $63 million have closed escrow. The rest will close escrow this week.

In a complicated financial transaction, at least 17 limited partnerships that owned the apartments were consolidated into a new partnership, Carpenter said. Pacific Gulf owns 80% of the new partnership. Investors can exchange their limited partnership shares for Pacific Gulf stock in 1997.