LaSalle Investment Management today announced that it has acquired four North American properties – two office buildings in San Francisco, California, and two retail properties in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – on behalf of its client, Prudential Property Investment Managers of London (PruPIM), an affiliate of Prudential plc, an international financial services group headquartered in London.
The two San Francisco investments are acquisitions representing a 75% joint venture ownership interests in: 580 California Street, a 313,012-square-foot 23-story, Class A office building located in San Francisco’s North Financial District directly across the street from the landmark Bank of America building; and 201 Mission Street, a 483,289-square-foot, 30-story Class A office building located just south of Market Street in San Francisco’s South Financial District.
The seller of both properties was Equity Office, which remains a 25% joint venture partner and will continue to serve as leasing and management agent for the buildings. Jay Borzi and Stephen R. Silk of Secured Capital Corp. represented Equity Office in the transaction.
“These recent acquisitions represent important milestones toward achieving Prudential plc’s goal of building a diversified property portfolio in North America primarily through direct acquisitions of institutional-quality real estate,” said Wade Judge, Chief Investment Officer of LaSalle Investment Management. “Both Prudential plc and LaSalle Investment Management are extremely pleased to
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be partnering with Equity Office, the nation’s largest office building owner and manager. We hope this will be the first of several properties that we acquire in partnership with this outstanding organization.”
“In our view, the San Francisco commercial business district is poised for a strong rent recovery,” said Erick Paulson, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions, of LaSalle Investment Management. “Against that backdrop of improving market fundamentals, these buildings are attractive assets given their below-replacement-cost prices, outstanding locations and quality tenant rosters.”
In Canada, LaSalle Investment Management acquired on behalf of PruPIM two retail warehouse properties at 1900 and 1960 Cyrville Road, in Ottawa, Ontario, home to Costco and The Brick retail stores. The single-story buildings, which are located at a prominent retail node in the east end of Ottawa adjacent to Highway 417, total 164,458 square feet. Nathan P. Smith of Royal LePage Commercial, Inc. represented the seller.
“These two properties are extremely well-located in a premier power retail node,” said Stephen Robertson, Vice President, Acquisitions of LaSalle Investment Management Canada, who represented the company and client Prudential in the transactions. “The buildings are leased on a long-term basis to national tenants and are expected to provide our client with reliable long-term cash flows and excellent risk-adjusted returns.”
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management, Inc., a member of the Jones Lang LaSalle group (NYSE: JLL), is a leading global real estate investment manager with approximately $26 billion of assets under management. LaSalle Investment Management is active across a range of real estate capital and operating markets including private and public, debt and equity. For more information, visit www.lasalle.com.
About Prudential plc
Prudential plc, a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in the United Kingdom, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world’s leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. It has been in existence for over 150 years and has more than $350 billion in assets under management, (as at 31 December 2004). Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.