Awadis pays $5.9M for 22 renovated El Cajon units

A company controlled by Brian Awadis, a San Diego County real estate investor, has bought the 22-unit Southwinds Apartments at 909 S. Sunshine Ave. in El Cajon from the Johnson Family Trust for $5.9 million, or roughly $268,180 a unit, CoStar News reported. The price gives lenders and appraisers a fresh per-door benchmark for renovated small-bay multifamily.

Because the property has already been renovated, that per-unit number is a direct read on what the work is worth to a buyer, and at that price Awadis is paying for current income rather than a repositioning narrative. The trade sits on the side of the apartment market where deals are clearing, while assets that still need capital work are waiting for discounts.

At 22 doors, the sale will not move county multifamily averages, but it gives the next deal a comp. When a private trust and a private investor agree on a per-unit price for a renovated building, lenders and appraisers can mark the next similar property against it. Small sales rarely show up in the indices. But this per-unit figure is what private sellers and buyers actually use when underwriting a building.

The deal fits the broader reset in apartment pricing, where buyers have split assets by how legible the rent roll is. A renovated 22-unit building in El Cajon sits at the small end of that market, but the principle holds: the more certain the income, the less the buyer discounts the price.

The coverage does not spell out Awadis's plans, but the price itself suggests a hold, since a flip or heavy repositioning would require rents to move sharply from here and the renovation already appears done. The more natural assumption is steady occupancy and the dependable yield that keeps private money in small-bay multifamily.

The seller, a family trust, is another reminder that family-owner inventory still reaches the market in San Diego County's smaller apartment product, and that private capital is willing to meet it at full per-unit prices when the building requires no additional work. The sale leaves the next renovated 22-unit listing in that part of the county with a number to negotiate against: $268,180 a door.