A joint venture headed by Alliance Residential Co., of Phoenix, has acquired the Coronado Bay Club, a 549-unit, garden-style waterfront apartment community in Coronado, Calif., for $160 million, the company announced Wednesday. Alliance’s JV partner is a large institutional pension fund investor, with MetLife Real Estate Investors serving as lender.

The deal was brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle on behalf of the seller, LaSalle Investment Management.

The project sits on an approximately 14-acre site, on Second Street near the Hotel Del Coronado and Coronado Beach that offers views of downtown San Diego, the Coronado Bay Bridge and San Diego Bay.

Its amenities include an 18,000-square-foot clubhouse, meeting rooms, a business center, catering kitchen, media room, on-site beauty salon, tennis courts, a fitness center, pool and spa, saunas and locker rooms, a dog park, picnic area with grilling stations, and garage parking.

The community is 96 percent occupied, an Alliance spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive.

Drew Colquitt, Alliance’s managing director for acquisition, development and construction in Southern California, described the Coronado Bay Club as “possibly the largest oceanfront rental community in Southern California.”

Executive Vice President Darcy Miramontes and Vice President Kip Malo led the Jones Lang LaSalle team, along with international director Jubeen Vaghefi and Managing Director David Young.

“There was a tremendous amount of interest in this marquee property,” Miramontes said. “We led more than 50 tours to prospective buyers, ranging from institutional investors to high-net-worth individuals and including both domestic and international entities.”

The average multi-family vacancy in the downtown San Diego/Coronado submarket is only 2.8 percent, a YOY drop of about 200 basis points, according to the latest figures from Marcus & Millichap. The average effective rent is $1,841, a YOY increase of 8.4 percent.

The San Diego–area apartment forecast is rather rosy, according to M&M. Local job growth remains steady, single-family housing continues to become less affordable (the median single-family home price surged to $472,400) and new apartment construction is relatively modest.