CBRE Investors Acquires 1M-SF Office Portfolio

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a recent GlobeSt.com report said that ING Clarion sold the Esperante for a price of $67.6 million at a loss of $36 million after acquiring it for $104 million in late 2005. The 500 N. Brand building previously traded for $140 million when ING Clarion bought it from GE Pension Trust in March 2006, and the Metropolitan Center sold for $120 million when ING Clarion bought it from CBRE Investors in December 2005.

[IMGCAP(2)]CBRE Investors says that it will modernized all three buildings through an extensive capital campaign that will include LEED certification, systems replacements and its 5-Star Worldwide service program, which is designed to provide services and amenities to increase tenant productivity and satisfaction. CBRE Investors acquired the three properties on behalf of its Strategic Partners US Value 5 fund, one of two funds for which it raised $2.1 billion in funding last year to buy and reposition institutional properties in the US.

The 22-story 500 N. Brand building was built in 1990, is 75% leased and has undergone a number of property upgrades since 2002. As part of its repositioning after it acquired the building, ING Clarion renamed the office tower the Lexington.

The Metropolitan Center, located at One Meadowlands Plaza in East Rutherford, is 72% leased. It includes a 4,500-square-foot cafeteria, a 1,300-space five-story parking structure and an additional 150 surface spaces, a newly designed fitness center and shuttle service to the Secaucus/Allied Junction transfer station. The Esperante, a 20-story tower in Downtown West Palm Beach, is located at 222 Lakeview Ave. and is 76% leased.