CBRE Closes $12.1 Million Sale of Sunrise Vista Apartments in Barstow for Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino
CBRE has brokered the $12.1 million sale of Sunrise Vista Apartments, a 156-unit multifamily community at 755 East Virginia Way in Barstow, California, the firm announced Sept. 14. The seller was the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino, and the buyer was Sunrise Vista LP.
CBRE's Cray A. Carlson and Brian Hutcherson represented the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino in the transaction. Carlson also represented the buyer, Sunrise Vista LP. The deal closed at approximately $77,560 per unit. The transaction carried a 6.17% cap rate.
Property Overview: Affordable and Market-Rate Mix in the High Desert
Built in 1986, Sunrise Vista Apartments is a two-story, garden-style community comprising 156 units across three configurations: 16 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units at approximately 780 square feet; 68 two-bedroom, one-bathroom units at approximately 928 square feet; and 72 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units at approximately 988 square feet.
The property includes 39 market-rate units and 117 affordable units subject to multiple housing programs, including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and Project-Based Vouchers. Current advertised rents range from approximately $1,175 per month for one-bedroom units to approximately $1,335 per month for two-bedroom, two-bathroom units — levels consistent with workforce housing positioning in the High Desert submarket. The community is located near schools, shopping, dining and entertainment, with convenient access to Interstate 15.
"The acquisition of Sunrise Vista Apartments reflects continued investment in the Barstow market and provides well-located housing that benefits residents while supporting the area's ongoing expansion," said Carlson, senior vice president at CBRE. "The property's mix of market-rate and affordable housing units creates an opportunity to preserve much-needed housing while serving the needs of the local community."
HACSB Redeploys Capital Across San Bernardino County
The Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino initiated the sale as part of a broader portfolio reallocation strategy. The agency currently provides more than 500 affordable housing units in Barstow and intends to use proceeds from the Sunrise Vista transaction to expand its presence in other San Bernardino County cities where it is less represented, while retaining more than 300 affordable units in Barstow.
"The HACSB provides over 500 units of affordable housing in Barstow," said Rishad Mitha, deputy director for the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino. "The proceeds from the sale of this property will be used to provide housing in other cities of the county where the Housing Authority is less represented while still maintaining over 300 units of affordable housing in Barstow."
The transaction marks the third deal Carlson has completed with the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino, underscoring an ongoing advisory relationship between CBRE and the public agency across the Inland Empire affordable housing sector.
Surplus Land Act Process Shaped the Transaction
Because the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino is a public agency, the disposition was governed by California's Surplus Land Act, which imposes a structured statutory process on the sale of surplus government-owned real estate. Brian Hutcherson, a member of CBRE's Public Institutions and Education Solutions group, played a central role in navigating those requirements.
"The Surplus Land Act transactions require specific discipline. You are balancing the public agency's obligation to follow a structured statutory process with the goal of finding the right buyer. I am proud of the outcome we achieved for HACSB and the community. Sunrise Vista represented a real opportunity to put a surplus asset back into productive use; getting there required close coordination with the Authority and a thorough understanding of what qualified buyers needed to see in order to move forward with confidence," Hutcherson said.
CBRE noted that Hutcherson's experience helping public agencies navigate the regulatory requirements of government surplus dispositions was a key factor in achieving a competitive outcome for the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino.
High Desert Multifamily Market Context
The Barstow transaction comes as the High Desert submarket of the Inland Empire maintains a multifamily vacancy rate of approximately 5.3%, with average asking rents in the low $1,400s per month and recent trades averaging roughly $65,000 per unit. The $77,560 per unit closing price for Sunrise Vista Apartments represents a premium to that submarket average, reflecting the property's income-restricted cash flow profile and stabilized occupancy supported by federal housing programs.
Across the broader Inland Empire, multifamily vacancy has hovered in the 5.3% to 5.6% range through late 2025 and into mid-2026, as new Class A supply has been absorbed and investor interest has increasingly shifted toward workforce and affordable product. The Sunrise Vista sale illustrates that dynamic, with a private buyer acquiring a government-owned, income-restricted asset at a cap rate of 6.17% — a spread that reflects both the asset's vintage and the stability of its subsidized rent rolls.
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