Opus West Group and Thompson/Dorfman Partners L.L.C. cashed in on two multi-family developments, one in Santa Rosa, Calif. for $19.5 million and another in Emeryville for $92 million. State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio bought the brand new communities.

Completed late last year, The Overlook in Santa Rosa features 78 units and is designed with "Tuscany flair." The resort-oriented community, which is almost fully occupied, took in "absolute rents that were 10 percent to 20 percent above any competing property," said Bruce Dorfman, principal with Thompson/Dorfman.

Across the bay, the development team turned a former steal fabricating facility into one of the few rental communities that the area has seen in the past five years. Dorfman noted that although other multi-family projects had been built, most of the competing properties switched to condominiums mid-development.

By contrast, The Courtyards at 65th Street includes 331 rental units that began leasing in June 2004. The community was only recently completed in November 2004 and was half filled at the time of the sale.

Generally, the San Francisco market has begun to bounce back from the dot-com bust. Payrolls increased an estimated 1.2 percent in 2004, adding 26,000 jobs according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. Emeryville, specifically, received a boost from the biotechnology activity coming out of the University of California-Berkley. At the end of the third quarter of 2004, rental growth remained flat in the area and vacancy teetered at 4.7 percent.

However, investor interest has remained strong in the area with velocity exceeding expectations in 2004. Developers continue to clamor for suitable sites while infill redevelopment has become a popular route for new construction.

"The Bay area is very land-constrained," said Dorfman. "We are certainly looking for those kinds of opportunities, but they are very hard to come by."