Southern California office portfolio changes hands

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

A portfolio of 33 Southern California office buildings that sold for $1.51 billion at the top of the real estate market in 2007 is being taken over by Texas real estate developer Hines in what appears to be a distressed sale.

The owners, a group of individual investors represented by Cabi Developers of Miami, agreed to convey title to Hines, a Cabi spokesman said today.

Cabi did not reveal how much Hines agreed to pay, and Hines representatives could not be reached. Cabi was having difficulty paying its debt on the property, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group.

Hines was one of the bidders for the portfolio in 2007 when it was sold by Arden Realty Inc. Miami-based Cabi is a subsidiary of GICSA, one of the largest developers in Mexico, and also has properties in Texas, Nevada and Florida.

Among the office properties Hines is buying from Cabi are Century Park Center, a 16-story building at 9911 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. It also is acquiring the three-story Beverly Atrium at 350 S. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills and the low-rise Fountain Valley Plaza at 10540 Talbert Ave. in Fountain Valley.

-- Roger Vincent