LOS ANGELES – Mesa West Capital has originated $68.5 million in short-term financing for Legacy Partners and PGIM’s real estate business’ acquisition of a 320-unit multifamily community in Azusa, CA.
The five-year, interest-only, floating-rate loan is secured by University Village, a garden-style apartment community located at 801 East Alosta Avenue, directly across from Azusa Pacific University. The Southern California university, which previously used the property for student housing, sold it to the sponsor who will immediately begin repositioning the asset as a traditional multifamily rental community, which will be rebranded Citrus Place. A portion of the loan proceeds will be used to implement a light value-add strategy that will include upgrades to unit interiors and common area amenities, and address deferred exterior maintenance issues.
Azusa is situated in Los Angeles’ North San Gabriel Valley, roughly 20 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. It is historically one of the region’s strongest multifamily submarkets. Over the past 12 months, average home prices in Azusa and surrounding communities have risen to approximately $700,000. This affordability gap, relative to homeownership has reinforced renter demand, particularly for well-located, amenitized communities. According to CBRE research, the North San Gabriel submarket reported a vacancy rate of 3.7% in Q2 2025—half a percentage point lower than the overall Los Angeles market.
“With no new construction projects in the pipeline—helping to alleviate supply-side pressure both now and in the future—along with persistent demand, we expect the local multifamily market to sustain strong fundamentals into the foreseeable future,” said Joshua Westerberg, Head of Originations for the Western Region at Mesa West Capital.
“We expect the sponsor will see strong demand at University Village as they complete the planned capital improvement program.”
Built in 1985, University Village offers a mix of one- and two-bedroom units featuring in-unit washer/dryers, central heating and air conditioning, and oversized balconies on second-story units. Community amenities include 610 parking spaces, gated access, a recreation clubhouse, two outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, and a basketball court.
The financing was arranged by Ryan Greer, CJ Connolly, and Spencer Beckwith in the Los Angeles office of CBRE.
About Mesa West Capital, LLC
Mesa West Capital (http://www.mesawestcapital.com) is a leading commercial real estate debt fund manager and portfolio lender. With offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco, Mesa West has been one of the leading providers of commercial real estate debt since its founding in 2004. Mesa West provides non-recourse first mortgage loans for core/core-plus, value-add or transitional properties throughout the United States. Mesa West’s lending portfolio includes all major property types with loan sizes ranging from $20 million up to $400 million. Since inception, the firm has sourced and closed more than 450 transactions totaling over $28 billion.
