The Tape
901 Ocean AveSold

$929K/door on Ocean Ave, Court-appointed

The Bank Sold 28 units on the Santa Monica Bluffs.

By David SafaiFollow

At a glance

Sale Price
$26.0M

closed Jul 6, 2026

Initial Ask
$27.5M

receiver listing

Price / Unit
$928,571

per door

Price / SF
$840/SF

on 30,954 gross SF

CAP (Current)
4.81%

at-close, verified

NOI (Current)
$1,251,858

broker-stated at close

Units
28

18 × 1BD · 10 × 2BD

Year Built
1961

renovated 2022

Vacancy (Subject)
25%

vs. 7.8% submarket

ULA Tax Est.
$1,430,000

Measure ULA, above threshold

Lot SF
14,998 SF

0.34 ac · R3 zoning

Parking
33 covered

1.18 stalls/unit

What matters

  1. $26 million on July 6.Court-appointed sale. CoStar says the initial ask was $27.5 million. The notes say the asset sold for $23.46 million with the buyer paying $2.4 million of transaction costs. I am using the $26 million CoStar confirmed price.
  2. 28 units. 18 one-beds.10 two-beds. $928,571 a door. $840 a foot. 30,954 SF. Built 1961. Renovated 2022. Three stories. Wilshire Montana. Ocean Avenue. Santa Monica.
  3. The buyer is MDNI Group. Kakutas Real Assets 2 LLC.Sherman Oaks. The seller is Nano Banc. NB Foreclosed Assets. One-month hold. No buyer broker. Priscilla Nee and Daniel Blackwell at CBRE listed it.
  4. CoStar shows a 4.81% cap on $1,251,858 of NOI.No GRM on the file. 33 covered parking stalls. Transfer tax $25,812. CoStar does not flag rent control on the page.
901 Ocean Ave photo
LISTING PHOTO VIA COSTAR.

The Location

901 Ocean Ave sits in the Wilshire Montana submarket of Santa Monica, zip 90403. Ocean Avenue is the last street before the bluffs and the Pacific Coast Highway. The address is genuinely coastal. 

The Setup

Three-story wood-frame construction, one elevator, 30,954 gross SF on 14,998 SF  land. 

Unit mix is 18 one-bedrooms averaging 807 SF and 10 two-bedrooms averaging 1,022 SF. 

Average unit is 883 SF. 

Renovated in 2022, so the finishes are relatively fresh: granite countertops, stainless appliances, hardwood floors, double-pane windows, floor-to-ceiling windows in select units. 

Amenities include a pool, sundeck, cabana, courtyard, grill, controlled access, car charging stations, and bicycle storage. 

The SMRC Rent Control Math

Built 1961 in Santa Monica. This building is not subject to LARSO. It is subject to the Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment, which is stricter, older, and more tenant-protective than LA City's ordinance. 

Under SMRC, annual rent increases are tied to the Santa Monica Rent Control Board's annual general adjustment, historically 1% to 3% per year. Vacancy decontrol does apply in Santa Monica, meaning a unit resets to market on a voluntary vacancy. 

What an Operator Sees

MDNI paid $26 million on July 6 for twenty-eight units on Ocean Avenue — $928,571 a door and $840 a foot — in a court-appointed / Nano Banc receiver sale. CBRE had asked $27.5 million. Notes put a $23.46 million base plus about $2.4 million of transaction obligations. Built 1961, renovated 2022, roughly 25% vacant at close. CoStar prints a 4.81% cap on $1,251,858 of NOI. This is Santa Monica rent control (SMRO), not LARSO.

A banked asset moved to a Sherman Oaks developer group with vacancy still in the building.

I am not pretending the 4.81% is clean without the rent roll and the obligation schedule. The second-order read for Westside owners: Ocean Avenue still cleared near $930K a door out of receivership — so "distress" here was not a fire-sale door basis. Nearby SMRO holders should ask whether their next buyer is a yield investor or another developer who will underwrite the vacancy and the ordinance together.

I research these transactions to sharpen my own investment strategy and share what I find so Los Angeles owners, brokers and investors can debate the market with better information.

Follow Atlas Brief on X for daily Los Angeles commercial real estate deals, market data and development news:

https://x.com/AtlasBriefLA

Know one other LA owner who'd want this deal? Forward this — reply with their email and I'll add them.

Listing / brokerage: CBRE (Priscilla Nee / Daniel Blackwell). Property and transaction data: CoStar Research.

Write to David Safai at David@AtlasBrief.La

Appeared in the Sept. 5, 2026 edition of The Tape.