City Center Bellevue Sold for $229M

American Assets Trust, a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT), announced this week that it had entered into an agreement to acquire City Center Bellevue in Bellevue, Washington for approximately $229 million. The seller, Beacon Capital, listed the property earlier this month with Eastdil. Full terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the transaction is being structured to accommodate a possible tax deferred exchange pursuant to the provisions of Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and applicable state revenue and taxation code sections.

"The greater Seattle area, Bellevue in particular, has been a target investment region for the Company and its predecessor for many years. We are extremely pleased with the pending acquisition of City Center Bellevue and our eventual entry into this highly constrained market. We expect that our efforts will enable us to continue to expand our presence in the area," said John W. Chamberlain, American Assets Trust's Chief Executive Officer and President.

City Center Bellevue consists of approximately 497,000 square feet over 27 floors, located in the heart of Bellevue's Central Business District at 500 108th Avenue NE, and is currently managed by Wright Runstad & Company. American Assets expects that the property will be roughly 92% leased at the time of closing with major tenants including HDR Engineering, Intelius, Sucker Punch Productions, Global Scholar, Cisco Systems and Morgan Stanley.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

American Assets Picks Up $92M Office Portfolio

Ashforth Pacific, Inc. let go of a 593,117 square foot portfolio of office buildings this month as it sold six properties in Portland, Oregon for $92 million to San Diego-based American Assets. According to a CoStar report, the portfolio covers six office buildings within four contiguous blocks, including a condominium interest that totals 213,533 square feet in the 20-story Lloyd Tower, the 16-story Lloyd 700 Building, the 710 Oregon Square Building, the 830 Oregon Square Building, the 710 Oregon Square Building, and the Oregon Square 729 Building.

American Assets paid for the portfolio with proceeds from its IPO in January 2011. John Chamberlain, American Asset’s president and CEO, said the company is looking forward to expanding to other markets on the West Coast, including Santa Barbara and Seattle.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.