UCLA housing draws premium.

A division of Irving, Texas-based JPI, one of the nation's largest rental housing developers, has paid nearly $23 million for a distinctive 33-unit Westwood apartment complex near UCLA.

Each four-bedroom unit at the Jefferson at Midvale Apartments can house six to eight students, who share a large living, dining and kitchen area and rent on a per-bed basis. Unlike informal per-bed arrangements often seen around campus, the two-year-old complex at 433 S. Midvale Ave. was designed for such an arrangement, unusual for student housing in Los Angeles.

While the purchase price is appreciably higher than similar recent apartment sales in that submarket, Pat Riley, who handles West Coast student housing acquisitions for JPI Student Housing, said when considered on a per-bed rental basis, the property offers significant revenue growth potential.

"There's been nothing like it on the market for years," said Riley, noting that JPI had been looking to enter the Los Angeles student housing market for several years. "It's a market that once people get into they don't want to leave because units are 100 percent full all the time."

William and Clark Everitt at Encino-based Investment Real Estate Associates represented both the buyer and the seller, a private individual, in the deal.

Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at [phone], ext 263, or at [e-mail]. Staff reporter Deborah Crowe contributed to this column.