Tony Azzi Sells 62 Apartments on Catalina. Almost No Way to Build More.

To me, a 30+ year waitlist says almost everything about housing supply in Avalon.

Most apartment owners like me worry about finding tenants.

At Tremont Street Apartments in Avalon, the problem is finding enough apartments for the tenants.

Tony Azzi and Arteen Zahiri of The Azzi Group led the sale of the 62 unit property. It's 100% occupied, with a reported waiting list of more than 30 years.

The property sold for $8.64 million, or $139,420 per unit.

But I don't think the price is the most interesting number.

Thirty years is.

Why is the waitlist 30+ years?

Start with Catalina Island.

Land is scarce. Building is hard and expensive. And there just aren't many places to add housing.

You can't fix Avalon's housing shortage by building another 500 apartments down the street.

Tremont has 62 apartments across five buildings on 1.42 acres.

The mix is 10 one bedrooms, 37 two bedrooms and 15 three bedrooms.

These aren't vacation homes.

They're homes for people who need to live and work on the island.

62 units that are hard to replace

Avalon needs workers, families, teachers and hotel and restaurant staff who can afford to live near their jobs.

Tremont is a HUD Section 8 affordable housing property. The sale keeps all 62 units as affordable housing.

The 30+ year waitlist shows how badly that housing is needed.

Not an easy deal to close

This wasn't a simple apartment sale.

The deal had to line up the ground lease, HUD approval, housing contract and existing Freddie Mac loan.

Tony Azzi and Arteen Zahiri represented the seller and found the buyer who got the deal closed.

And in a market this tight, I think keeping 62 affordable apartments in place matters.

The operator take

The most interesting number in this deal isn't $8.64 million. It's 30 years.

When I see a 30+ year waitlist, the market is telling me something very clearly:

Demand isn't the problem. Supply is.

And on Catalina Island, new supply is extra hard to create.

That's what makes these 62 apartments different.

They're part of a housing supply Avalon can't easily replace.