New York, NY, December 11, 2007 – GE Real Estate announced today it provided a $95 million short-term, on-book loan to a joint venture between Sterling American Property Fund IV and Hines to refinance Parkside Towers, a Class A office building located in Foster City, CA, part of San Francisco’s South San Mateo submarket.
The two towers total 400,000 square feet and were built in 2002 for Inktomi, a search engine firm purchased by Yahoo. Sterling American Property and Hines acquired Parkside Towers and three other Bay Area Class A office complexes from Equity Office Properties in June 2005.
This joint venture has since sold the three other properties in the portfolio and has purchased two other San Francisco offices totalling more than 963,000 square feet. It also has increased occupancy at Parkside Towers from 16 percent at the time of purchase to 55 percent, a figure that will top 70 percent in 2008 with the addition of new tenant IBM.
The Sterling American Property Fund IV has acquired 3.5 million square feet of office space. Hines, a privately owned real estate firm, has been the property manager for its San Francisco assets.
"Acquiring these four Bay Area properties has proved to be a grand slam for us, and this financing from GE Real Estate enables our investors to reap the rewards before the last runner crosses the plate,” said Tarak Patolia, senior vice president and head of acquisitions for Sterling American Property Fund IV. “We anticipate more collaborations with GE as we expand in San Francisco and the West Coast.” Sterling American Property, Inc. is a subsidiary of Sterling Equities, which also owns the New York Mets.
"Sterling and Hines are very much committed to investing in the vibrant Bay Area market, which has benefited from a sustained recovery in high tech and has been posting substantial occupancy gains,” said Ravi S. Anand, a director in GE Real Estate's Strategic Capital Group, which primarily works with opportunity funds, REITs and other institutional borrowers. “Their performance has been exceptional, and we look forward to building on our strong relationship."
GE Real Estate’s North America Lending division offers financing for retail, industrial, self-storage, multifamily, office, student housing, regional malls and outlet centers. North America Lending is also a provider of financing solutions for niche asset classes including affordable housing, golf, hospitality, vacation ownership, manufactured home communities and RV resorts.
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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$72 billion in assets and a presence in 31 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.
GE Commercial Finance (
www.gecommercialfinance.com) offers businesses around the globe an extensive array of financial products and services. With more than US$276 billion in assets and expertise in the middle-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, GE Commercial Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.
