A 460-unit apartment complex on the edge of Santa Maria has new owners again, less than two years after its last sale. Farallon Capital has picked up La Vista, a sprawling 26-building community at 740 S. Western Ave., buying it from Los Angeles-based Westview Capital in a deal that adds to a busy stretch of Central Coast apartment trading.
According to Multifamily Housing News, which first reported the acquisition, La Vista sits on more than 31 acres within an Opportunity Zone and offers studios through three-bedroom units, with floorplans ranging from 393 to 1,300 square feet. The outlet reports the property opened in 1978, though a Marcus & Millichap release on the prior sale lists the construction year as 1979 — the two sources diverge on the exact date. Every unit comes with a washer-dryer, microwave and a kitchen with a breakfast bar, and select apartments add pantries and private balconies or patios, per the same report.
The complex is pet-friendly and includes a community room, playground, barbecue area, two swimming pools and two spas, along with more than 700 parking spaces, Multifamily Housing News notes. Downtown Santa Maria sits less than two miles northeast, and the report describes multiple dining and retail options within walking distance of the property.
A Property That Just Keeps Trading Hands
La Vista has changed ownership twice in about ten months. Westview Capital Partners bought the complex from Kennedy Wilson for $116 million, or $252,174 per unit, a deal that Commercial Observer reports closed in December 2025 and set a new county price record at the time.
Marcus & Millichap's release on that prior transaction said the new ownership planned a light renovation strategy covering 95% of the units, though it's unclear whether that plan was carried out or whether it factored into the latest sale to Farallon Capital. The dossier is also clear that Westview Capital, the seller in this deal, is not affiliated with the Boston-based private equity firm WestView Capital Partners — a distinction the outlet's report flagged directly given the similar names.
Santa Maria's Apartment Market Keeps Churning
The La Vista sale lands amid a wave of Central Coast multifamily activity. Just months earlier, Hancock Terrace, a 272-unit property in Santa Maria built in 2016, sold for $75 million — or $275,735 per unit — according to Institutional Property Advisors, which reported the buyers intended to convert the property to affordable housing. The Towbes Group sold both Hancock Terrace and the 128-unit Knollwood Meadows, a 1985-built property on Cedarhurst Drive that Abacus Capital Group purchased, per the same Multifamily Housing News report on the Farallon deal.
Farallon Capital's appetite for smaller California markets extends beyond Santa Maria. Together with Ridge Capital Investors, the firm also acquired the 107-unit Wimbledon Square in Lodi for $16.2 million the month before the La Vista deal was reported, the outlet noted, describing Farallon as active in tertiary California markets more broadly.
Rents Climbing as Vacancy Ticks Up
The broader numbers help explain why investors keep circling Santa Maria. Santa Barbara County's multifamily vacancy rate reached 4.6% in the first half of 2026, up 110 basis points year over year, according to a Matthews Real Estate Investment Services market report. Yet Santa Maria itself posted the strongest rent growth in the region at 2.2% as it absorbed a run of recent deliveries, the report found.
Santa Maria has also seen multifamily investment. Separate coverage pegged Afton Properties' purchase of the 318-unit Azure Apartment Homes in Santa Maria at $114 million.
