John Hancock Buys OC Office Property for $105M

John Hancock Real Estate, also known as Manulife Real Estate and a division of Manulife Financial, announced this week that it had purchased 5000 Birch in Newport Beach, California for $104.5 million. John Hancock purchased the two building, Class A office project from an undisclosed seller, though records reveal that the property previously traded hands in November 2002 to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers by a joint venture between Aetna and Koll Development. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are excited to grow our global portfolio through continued investment in Orange County -- one of the fastest growing office markets in the U.S.," said Kevin Adolphe, President & Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Real Estate and President & Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Asset Management Private Markets. "Our acquisition of 5000 Birch further strengthens our long-standing investment in California where we now actively manage over 9 million SF."

The 306,000 square foot property, also known as Koll Center Newport, was originally constructed in 1982. 5000 Birch features a highly coveted Newport Beach address and is located at the gateway between Newport Beach and The Irvine Business Complex. The center is nearby The Sutton Place Hotel and The Pacific Club provide retail shops and banking as well as having excellent access to the John Wayne Airport and major freeways.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

John Hancock Buys One South Wacker for $344M

John Hancock, the U.S. division of Manulife Financial Corporation, announced the purchase of One South Wacker in Chicago's Central Business District's West Loop, a $344 million acquisition. The 40 story Class A office building was sold by Norfolk, VA-based Harbor Group International, which originally purchased the tower in December 2012 for $221 million, and implemented complete property renovations in 2014. Terms of the deal and representation were not disclosed.

"One South Wacker represents the type of high quality assets we acquire in key gateway markets where we do business," said Kevin Adolphe, President & Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Real Estate, which operates as John Hancock Real Estate in the U.S. "The acquisition is consistent with our strategy to seek out complementary, core office towers that can provide long term value for our global portfolio. We are proud to strengthen our commitment to the Chicago market with the acquisition of One South Wacker." Other Chicago properties owned or managed by John Hancock include 55 West Monroe, 191 N. Wacker, 200 S. Wacker and 150 N. Michigan Avenue.

One South Wacker was originally constructed in 1982 and designed by Murphy/Jahn, Inc. Architects (now JAHN), inspired by Gothic cathedrals with buttress-like setbacks and arch patterns in black glass. The building's central section has three small private atriums at the top of each setback, each encased with pink glass. The lobby connects Wacker Drive and Madison Street, and is unusual for its dark black color. Helmut Jahn's original design was altered in a remodeling project around 2000. The property was 86% leased at the time of sale to unlisted tenants. Anecdotally, the tower was also featured in the Daft Punk music video "Burnin" - a loose take on the film "Towering Inferno".

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

10 Exchange Place Sold for $285M

Manulife Real Estate, the global real estate arm of Canada-based Manulife Financial Corporation, acquired 10 Exchange Place in Jersey City, NJ for $285 million this month. Manulife picked up the property from a client of Invesco.

"This is kind of unusual," Andrew J. Merin, of Cushman & Wakefield's Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group, which orchestrated the sale, told GlobeSt.com. Merin, David W. Bernhaut, Gary Gabriel, Brian J. Whitmer and Kyle B. Schmidt represented the seller, a client of Invesco, in the transaction. "Over $1 billion in bricks and sticks will have traded. [...] There is not a lot of quality out there. In July, the market started to slow down. [But] Manulife did all their homework."

"Manulife is always looking for opportunities to grow our real estate investment portfolio and we're extremely pleased to secure these exceptional assets in what are three very important and diverse real estate investment markets," said Kevin Adolphe, Chief Operating Officer of Manulife's Investment Division and President and CEO of Manulife Real Estate. "We are optimistic about the possibilities in these and other key markets and we continue to look for core office, industrial and multi-family residential property investments throughout Canada, the United States and Asia."

Completed in 1988, the 748,005-square-foot building was the recent recipient of BOMA's 2011 TOBY (The Outstanding Building of the Year) award for buildings over 500,000 square feet. LEED-Gold and Energy Star certified, the iconic tower offers unobstructed views of lower Manhattan from every floor. The property was 100% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including ACE Insurance, Daikin McQuay, Kuehne + Nagel, Rabobank, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Amazon.com.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Market Center Office Complex in SF Sold for $265M

Manulife Financial, a Canadian-based financial services group, has entered into the Bay Area real estate market with the purchase of Market Center in San Francisco for $265 million, or $344 per square foot according to CoStar. Manulife acquired the 770,044-square-foot, two-tower office complex from RREEF America, which previously bought the complex in a joint venture with Page Mill Properties from Tishman Speyer for $79.5 million in October 2003. Page Mill sold its interest to RREEF for $127.5 million in May 2006.

Connected by a large landscaped courtyard, Market Center consists of two office towers: 555 Market Street, a 21-story, 283,000 square-foot building completed in 1965; and 575 Market Street, a 40-story, 487,000 square-foot building added in 1975. The buildings have been extensively renovated and modernized with state-of-the-art systems in the last few years and are in the process of being LEED certified for environmental sustainability. "We identified San Francisco as one of several potential growth areas for our real estate business and we are optimistic about the possibilities in this and other key markets as we continue to look for core office and industrial investment opportunities to complement our portfolio across the United States, Canada and Asia," Kevin Adolphe, COO of Manulife's Investment Division, said in a statement.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.