Retirement home? (Real Estate).

The Westwood investment by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association--College Retirement Equities Fund last year was far greater than first reported.

The retirement fund, which owns $3.5 billion in real estate assets nationwide, bought The Legacy at Westwood apartment complex from Foster City-based Legacy Partners for $85.1 million at about the same time it purchased retail center Westwood Marketplace for $74 million.

Rents at the 187-unit complex at 10833 Wilshire Blvd. average more than $3,000 a month, nearly double the $1,734 average paid for Brentwood/Westwood apartments during the third quarter 2002, according to Hendricks & Partners. The 240,000-square-foot Legacy, about 30 percent vacant at the beginning of last year, was 91 percent occupied at the time of the sale. Legacy completed the project in April 2001.

At more than $455,000 per unit, TIAA-CREF paid what is believed to be the highest per-unit price for a complex of its size in L.A. County history, easily eclipsing recent high-end deals for Pasadena's 214-unit Alexan City Place ($264,000 per unit) last year and Santa Monica's Sea Castle ($270,000) in 2001, though the $501 per square foot for the beachfront Sea Castle still trumps The Legacy ($354 per foot).

"Westwood retail fell on hard times in the late '90s, but the apartment market stayed unbelievably strong," said Dean Zander, associate partner at Hendricks & Partners. "It's an irreplaceable location."

The purchase also coincided with TIAA-CREF's September buy of the 212,000-square-foot Westwood Marketplace, which was redeveloped at the old Bullocks/Macy's site, from Madison Marquette.

TIAA-CREF representatives could not be reached for comment. The Legacy acquisition was disclosed in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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