LOS ANGELES [Monday, June 18TH] --- Arden officials announced today that the company has signed an agreement to acquire 38 assets comprised of 106 office buildings and 5.9 million square feet in San Diego, Orange County, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City. The properties are the CarrAmerica West Coast Collection that Blackstone Group purchased last year as part of a national portfolio. Eastdil Secured represented the seller. The sale is targeted to close in early August.
This transaction represents Arden’s largest acquisition to date since it was acquired by GE Real Estate in May of 2006. The company was purchased as GE’s West Coast growth platform and has been an active player in the investment market. In the last eight months leading up to this transaction, Arden has acquired approximately $800 million of new properties, including expansion into the Arizona market. The company will own approximately 17.2 million square feet of commercial office properties once this transaction is executed with another 4.6 million under leasing and management.
Ownership of this portfolio gives Arden immediate critical mass of institutional, quality suburban properties in six key West Coast regions that are the company’s primary target markets. The location and concentration of these properties will serve as a springboard for Arden’s continued growth in these markets.
"This acquisition accelerates our growth objectives for this year,“ stated Arden President and Chief Executive Officer Joaquin de Monet. “It also reflects two important components of our strategy: our strong commitment to our core markets and the blueprint for our new target markets throughout the West Coast.”
Recently Arden has been in an active trading mode, as part of an aggressive capital recycling and expansion strategy. On May 25th, Arden announced the sale of 33 of its non-core assets for $1.5 billion to Cabi Developers - a subsidiary of GICSA, a Mexico-based, international development firm. Arden will retain management and an advisory capacity for the Cabi acquisitions. Last week Arden closed on the acquisition of a portfolio of six Northern California assets in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale - a mix of flex office and R & D properties that expanded the company’s Northern California footprint even further. Arden is expected to close on additional assets in Northern California and Scottsdale, Arizona later this month.
"GE Real Estate is delighted with the tremendous growth we are witnessing on the West Coast through the Arden platform. Arden’s leadership, and the expertise of the entire team, made today’s significant acquisition possible,” said Joe Parsons. President of GE Real Estate’s North American Equity division. “GE Real Estate’s initial goal last year was to grow our West Coast equity business through Arden. This vision is being realized,” he went on to comment.
Arden Realty Contact:
Brook Lauter
310/966-8929
blaute@ardenrealty.com
About Arden Realty Inc.
Based in West Los Angeles, Arden Realty, Inc. is a fully integrated real estate company and one of the largest landlords in Southern California. In May of 2006, the firm was acquired by GE Real Estate as its growth platform for the Western United States. Currently, Arden has a portfolio of 97 properties comprised of 17.2 million square feet in major markets throughout California and in Phoenix, Seattle. Portland, and Salt Lake City. In-house operations include leasing, property and asset management, construction, development, and acquisitions.
Arden has also been retained to manage and advise on 33 assets that the firm recently sold to Cabi West, bringing the portfolio under management to over 21 million square feet. Arden is also a nationally recognized leader in energy conservation and efficiency. For three consecutive years the Environmental Protection Agency cited Arden as the “Commercial Real Estate Owner of the Year” for its innovative energy initiatives and for owning the most energy efficient buildings in a single portfolio in the nation.
The company is directed by President and Chief Executive Officer Joaquin de Monet, Chief Operating Officer Robert Peddicord and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Early and General Counsel David Swartz. For more information on the company, visit the Arden website at
www.ardenrealty.com.
About GE Real Estate
GE Real Estate (
www.gerealestate.com) is one of the world's premier commercial real estate companies with more than US$59 billion in assets and a presence in 28 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Backed by GE's AAA rating, GE Real Estate offers a comprehensive range of capital and investment solutions including equity capital for acquisition or development, as well as fixed and floating rate mortgages for new acquisitions or re-capitalizations of commercial real estate. With a 28% compound annual growth rate since 1993, GE Real Estate is one of the world's fastest growing and most profitable real estate enterprises. This extraordinary record of success grows out of a reputation for collaboration and partnership; a depth of knowledge and experience and a history of building relationships, finding opportunities and opening doors for more than 5,000 owners, builders, borrowers and brokers worldwide.
