JV Buys $1.34B Los Angeles Office Portfolio

Douglas Emmett, Inc., the California-based REIT, announced that in a joint venture with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) it had acquired a 1,725,000 square foot office portfolio in Westwood for $1.34 billion, or approximately $777 per square foot. The JV secured a a non-recourse $580 million interest-only loan with a seven-year term in connection with the acquisition. The interest rate is floating at Libor plus 1.40%, which has been fixed at 2.37% annually for five years through an interest rate swap.

Douglas Emmett indicated that it plans to retain 20-30% of the equity in the joint venture, with the remaining interests being held by institutional partners. With this purchase, Douglas Emmett controls 74% of the Westwood Wilshire office corridor, where it already owned One Westwood, 10960 Wilshire, The Tower, 10880 Wilshire, Westwood Place and Westwood Center.

For QIA, this joint venture represents another step in its plans to significantly expand its US investment portfolio, and follows other large investments in real estate, such as in New York City last year. In 2015, QIA announced plans to invest $35 billion in North America over five years.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.

Douglas Emmett Buying 4 LA Towers for $1.34B

Santa Monica, CA-based Douglas Emmett, a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT), released its Fourth Quarter 2015 Earnings Results this week, which included the disclosure that the company has agreed to buy a four building office portfolio for $1.34 billion, or $779 per square foot. The portfolio of four Class A multi-tenant office properties in Westwood are being sold by an unnamed owner and are currently 89% leased.

"As has been our plan, these assets will be purchased by an institutional joint venture that we will manage," Douglas Emmett noted in the earnings report. "We expect the acquisition to close in the first quarter of 2016." The properties in the portfolio include:

— 10960 Wilshire Boulevard, a 24-story tower with 543,804 rentable square feet
— 10940 Wilshire Boulevard, a 24-story tower with 222,066 rentable square feet built in 1988
— 10880 Wilshire Boulevard, a 24-story Class A building offering over 580,000 square feet of office space
— 1100 Glendon Avenue , a 22-story tower with 328,514 square feet built in 1965

The deal would be one of the largest office acquisitions in Los Angeles in recent years and give Douglas Emmett a 74% market share in L.A.'s high-profile Wilshire Westwood Corridor, according to a CoStar report. For more news and information visit Blumberg Partners.