East coast real estate firm finds value in Pasadena. (Real Estate).

SSR Realty Investors Inc. got in while the getting was good.

The White Plains, N.Y.-based real estate investment firm bought the recently completed Arpeggio apartment complex in Pasadena for $25.3 million. The 135-unit development, which is located at 325 Cordova St., is about 12 percent occupied.

"The property is one of the few remaining infill sites in the center of Pasadena," said John Basile, senior asset manager at SSR, which is subsidiary of MetLife. While SSR manages $5 billion in assets worldwide, Arpeggio is the firm's first foray into Pasadena.

It also may have been a relatively inexpensive one.

The deal was the result of a presale agreement SSR entered into with developer SNK Peabody Pasadena LLC during the second quarter of 2000. Because the sale of the property was to take place shortly after building completion but before the property was leased up, SSR paid $187,000 per unit, or about $157 per rentable square foot, a bargain according to Dean Zander, associate partner at Hendricks & Partners.

"You could make a case for this property being worth $200,000 or more for each unit at 90 percent occupancy," said Zander.

Rents at Arpeggio range from $1,420 a month for one-bedroom apartments to $2,550 for two-bedroom units, excluding the 12 low-income units in the complex.

Staff reporter Danny King can be reached at [phone] ext. 230, or at [e-mail].