Canadian pension fund closes on 37.5% interest in the Row

The Row DTLA
The Row DTLA

One of Canada’s largest pension funds is the newest equity partner in the Row in Downtown L.A.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) bought a 37.5 percent minority interest in the project for an undisclosed sum, the company said Thursday.

Atlas Capital Group and an institutional investment partnership managed by Square Mile Capital Management reduced their own respective stakes in the property through the deal but both remain as partners.

A spokesperson for Square Mile was not immediately available for comment.

The partners also secured a $475 million, three-year floating-rate loan through Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies to refinance the project.

The transaction was first reported by The Real Deal last week, though the identity of the new partner was not clear at the time.

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The additional equity injection will go towards continuing the massive repositioning of the 1.8 million square feet of office and retail hub, the partners said.

Atlas and Square Mile partnered with USAA Real Estate Company to buy the creative reuse project as well as several separate properties for $357.4 million in 2014 from real estate investment trust EVOQ Properties, records show.

HOOPP is an active investor in Canadian and international real estate. Last year, it bought a half interest in the TransCanada Tower in Calgary for $257.4 million, for instance. It also recently provided a high-interest $1.5 billion line of credit to troubled Canadian mortgage lender Home Capital Group.

Doug Bond and Paul Brindley and associate director Brad Greenway of HFF brokered the deal.

Tenants who have signed on at the Row so far include Smorgasburg, Paramount Coffee Project and Tartine Manufactory.