California is making its presence felt on the national office stage. The state boasts four of the 20 priciest office investment sales in the U.S. during the first half of 2017, up from just one during the same period last year, according to a new report.
The combined four transactions added up to $1.87 billion, according to the report by CommercialCafe. Though last year saw just one deal make the cut, it was a whopper – Douglas Emmett and Qatar Investment Authority’s purchase of a 1.72 million-square-foot Westwood office portfolio for $1.34 billion.
California is still a long ways away from New York, however. The four biggest office investment sales there added up to $4.27 billion, according to the report.
Here are the California deals that made the cut.
The $572.9 million selloff
of the SunAmerica
Center
SunAmerica Center at 1999 Avenue of the Stars
In March, JMB Financial Advisors paid Blackstone Group $572.9 million for the 39-story, 821,000-square-foot property in Century City. The tower is home to tenants such as Morgan Stanley and law firm O’Melveny & Myers. The deal was California’s priciest office transaction and came in eighth in the nationwide ranking. h
44 Montgomery Street
Next up was Beacon Capital Partners’ April purchase of the 689,000-square-foot building in San Francisco’s Financial District. Seagate Properties sold the 43-story tower for $475.4 million. Tenants include the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
One California Plaza at 300 S. Grand Avenue
Beacon’s second appearance on this list comes as the seller of this 1.05 million-square-foot, 42-story tower, which Rising Realty Partners + Colony NorthStar bought for $459 million in May. Tenants at the Downtown building include law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Bank of the West.
From left, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani of QIA, Jonathan Gray of Blackstone, Jordan Kaplan of DEI and 1299 Ocean (Getty)
1299 Ocean Avenue and 429 Santa Monica Boulevard
Just making the cut was Douglas Emmett and QIA’s purchase of two buildings in Santa Monica for a combined $352.8 million. The 206,000-square-foot waterfront tower at 1299 Ocean Avenue sold for $248 million while the other, 87,000-square-foot property at 429 Santa Monica Boulevard sold for $104.8 million. The seller on both? Blackstone.