Arden to buy office holdings in West
Los Angeles real estate company Arden Realty Inc., one of Southern California’s largest office landlords, said Monday that it had agreed to acquire 106 office buildings in the West.
The properties, totaling 5.9 million square feet, are in mostly suburban areas of San Diego, Orange County, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore.
They are being sold for an estimated $2 billion by New York investor Blackstone Group, which acquired them last year from realty company CarrAmerica.
The acquisition expected to close in August would give Arden its first holdings in the Pacific Northwest and Utah, said President Joaquin de Monet. “This leverages our opportunity to expand throughout the West Coast.”
Most of Arden’s holdings are in West Los Angeles and other suburban markets of Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Arden was acquired by GE Real Estate for $3.2 billion a year ago.
West Coast office markets “have very strong fundamentals” for landlords, said de Monet, who expects the value of office properties will continue to grow as businesses expand and rent more space at increasing prices.
Last month Arden announced it would sell 33 buildings for $1.5 billion to Cabi Developers, a subsidiary of GICSA, a Mexico-based real estate developer.
Last week the company bought six properties in the Bay Area and it has committed to another $350 million worth of property in Northern California and Arizona.
Since being taken over by General Electric Co., Arden has acquired $3 billion worth of real estate, including Monday’s announcement, de Monet said.
