Case Study: 4647 University Ave, City Heights

A freestanding commercial property on two contiguous lots (about 19,089 SF) sold vacant for $3,600,000, its first time on the market in about 30 years. Arby Eivazian represented the seller.

Sale snapshot

• Sale price: $3,600,000

• Land: Two contiguous lots totaling about 19,089 SF

• Occupancy at sale: Vacant

• Days on market: 109

• Submarket: City Heights, University Avenue corridor

• Representation: Seller

Why a vacant building is a different sale

With no tenant in place, there is no income to capitalize. The price comes from what a buyer can do with the site: occupy it, re-lease it or redevelop it. That widens the buyer pool to owner-users and developers, but it also means pricing rests on land value, frontage and zoning rather than on a cap rate.

What drove buyer interest

• Rare scale for the corridor: two contiguous lots on University Avenue

• Frontage and visibility on one of City Heights' main commercial streets

• Flexibility for an owner-user, a re-tenanting plan or long-term redevelopment

• A long-held property coming to market for the first time in decades

For owners of long-held corridor properties

If you have owned a building for decades, its value may now sit more in the land and the zoning than in the current use. Testing both views of value before you list helps you avoid underpricing the site or overpricing a building that only works for one type of buyer.

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