BlackRock Acquires $1.63 Billion Southern California Apartment Portfolio

• BlackRock-managed vehicle pays $1.63B, about $450K a unit, for Camden's 11-property SoCal portfolio.
• Deal spans Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties; portfolio is 96% occupied.
• JLL arranged $566.6M in agency financing across seven of the assets.
• It's the largest US multifamily sale since June 2024, per JLL.

The Trade

A BlackRock-managed investment vehicle has closed on Camden Property Trust's entire California footprint: 11 properties, 3,620 units, for $1.63 billion. That pencils to roughly $450,000 a unit for a portfolio that's 96% leased across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. JLL Capital Markets represented Houston-based Camden and lined up $566.6 million in five-year, fixed-rate, interest-only agency financing for the buyer, covering seven of the 11 assets and structured so each can be sold or refinanced on its own. JLL called it one of the largest apartment portfolio trades ever completed in Southern California, representing about 16.5% of the region's five-year average annual multifamily transaction volume by unit count.

Why Camden Sold

Camden first floated a California exit in January, marketing the portfolio through JLL at a roughly $1.5 billion ask. It closed north of that target alongside second-quarter earnings on July 31. CFO Ben Fraker called the sale a turning point:

"The California disposition was a significant strategic milestone."

The REIT is routing proceeds through 1031 exchanges into Sun Belt growth markets, and had already redeployed $645.4 million into five apartment developments and two land sites across Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona and North Carolina, 2,061 units, in the same quarter. Camden's leadership has flagged California's regulatory costs for over a year; new CEO Alex Jessett, who took over from longtime chief Ric Campo in March, has said the state's rules were cutting into the portfolio's annual net operating income.

The Properties

The portfolio includes the Camden, a 287-unit Hollywood community with almost 39,000 square feet of retail anchored by an Equinox; the 380-unit Camden Crown Valley in Mission Viejo; the 469-unit Camden Landmark in Ontario, about 5% of that city's institutional apartment stock; and the 132-unit Camden Hillcrest in San Diego, where JLL said no property over 100 units has traded in a decade. JLL's Blake Rogers pointed to the bidding as a read on the broader market:

"The strength of Southern California fundamentals, leading to significant liquidity at scale."

What's Next

Camden ended the quarter with 167 properties and 56,695 units, almost entirely outside California now, and $298 million left on its share buyback authorization. Watch for more of the sale proceeds landing in Sun Belt deals through the rest of 2026 as the REIT completes its pivot away from the West Coast.