HOUSTON-Principal Real Estate Investors, operating on behalf of a group of South Korean investors, has acquired the 335,000-square-foot 2000 St. James Place from CORE Real Estate. The class A office building is 100% leased to Weatherford International.

The sales price of the 1970s property, located in the Galleria submarket, was not disclosed. The Harris Central Appraisal District assesses the asset at $33.7 million and also indicates that CORE Real Estate has owned it since 2010.

“We are pleased to represent a group of South Korean investors in their first investment in the Houston market. It shows the depth of interest in Houston as well as Principal Real Estate Investors' expertise in Houston and the global markets. Houston continues to be one of our favored markets across all product types and risk profiles,” says Mark Hanrahan, managing director at Principal Real Estate Investors in a press release.

The South Korean consortium consists of Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (KFCCC), Korea Scientists and Engineers Mutual-Aid Association (SEMA) and Simone Investment, which also represented the consortium in the transaction. The South Korean onshore asset manager is Woori Asset Management, with Principal Real Estate Investors acting as the US asset manager. CBRE helped broker the transaction.