Arden execs talked about the prospect of such a deal recently ina feature article in Real Estate Southern California Magazine, asister publication of GlobeSt.com. Arden said at the time that theportfolio being marketed totaled 33 properties; the Real CapitalAnalytics data indicates 34 properties.

Arden placed the properties on the market as part of a capitalrecycling program that the company has been pursuing for monthsnow, in which the Los Angeles-based office landlord has beendisposing of non-core assets and buying in markets where itpreviously owned few or no assets. According to Robert Peddicord,Arden's chief operating officer, the properties are non-core assetsthat have served their purpose in the Arden portfolio since thecompany acquired them in 1996 and 1997.

The other side of the Arden strategy is acquisitions. When Ardenclosed one of its first big transactions under the new plan, a $162million portfolio buy late last year, company president and CEDOJoaquin De Monet told GlobeSt.com that the deal marked thebeginning of an expansion by Arden that would take the companybeyond its traditional Southern California roots to new markets inNorthern California, the Pacific Northwest and Arizona.