AEW Capital Becomes Major Stakeholder at Heritage Plaza

Brookfield Office Properties Inc. announced this week that it had sold a 90% interest in Heritage Plaza, the 5th tallest building in Houston with 1,150,000 square feet of leasable space, to AEW Capital Management. AEW acquired a 41% stake in the building from Brookfield for $118 million, with the remaining 49% coming from an affiliate, according to a GlobalPost article. Brookfield acquired Heritage Plaza in December 2010 in a deal that valued the building at $286 per leasable square foot.

"This transaction aligns with Brookfield's strategy of creating value in an asset through proactive leasing and asset management and then extracting proceeds for use in other endeavors, such as our various development and redevelopment initiatives," said Dennis Friedrich, chief executive officer of Brookfield Office Properties.

"Led by the energy sector, Houston has consistently been one of the fastest growing metro areas in the nation," said Dan Bradley, portfolio manager for the AEW Core Property Trust. "Rapid job growth and expanding business activity have supported very strong demand for office space and we believe this investment capitalizes on these trends."

Heritage Plaza at 1111 Bagby Street is a Class AA office complex that is currently 98.4% leased, up from 84% leased when Brookfield took control of the building. Situated on the western perimeter of downtown Houston, tenant amenities include ample on-site parking and a fitness center.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

AEW Acquires $340M Flagler Station Industrial Portfolio

AEW Capital Management, on behalf of AEW Core Property Trust, the firm's core real estate fund, has completed the purchase of Flagler's 4.2 million-square-foot Flagler Station for $340 million, or $81 a square foot, according to the Miami Herald. Flagler Station is South Florida's largest business park, located in Miami-Dade County's prolific industrial Airport West submarket and totaling 33 buildings. The complex is home to tenants including Ryder Systems, Lagasse, FedEx and Brightstar. Under the terms of the deal, Flagler, which is owned by Fortress Investment Group, will retain management and leasing duties on the property for three more years.

"Given the performance of Miami's industrial market over the last 12 months, we were certain that a Class-A portfolio with such critical mass would garner serious interest from institutional investors," said Vincent Signorello, President of Flagler.

"AEW has a long history of investing in Southeast Florida, and this latest acquisition illustrates our belief in the strength of the Miami/Medley market, which services the Port of Miami, Miami International Airport and Port Everglades," said Dan Bradley, Senior Portfolio Manager for the AEW Core Property Trust.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.