Heitman buying Hines’ Campus at Playa Vista for $400M: sources

The 325K sf property is leased by Belkin, USC

Heitman CEO Maury Tognarelli, Campus at Playa Vista
Heitman CEO Maury Tognarelli, Campus at Playa Vista

UPDATED Oct. 10 at 12:36 p.m.:

Heitman, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm, is buying Hines’ four-building office campus in Playa Vista for about $400 million, The Real Deal has learned.

Sources close to the deal say that seller Hines Global REIT, a subsidiary of Hines, picked Heitman as the buyer recently. The deal has not closed yet.

At $400 million, the deal would pencil out to $1,230 per square foot.

Dubbed the Campus at Playa Vista, the property spans nearly 325,000 square feet across four, four-story office buildings located at 12015, 12025, 12035 and 12045 East Waterfront Drive. There’s also a 9,000-square-foot private terrace, and a 944-vehicle parking garage.

The campus is also adjacent to a nine-acre park designed by Michael Maltzan.

Hines’ REIT arm purchased the property from Tishman Speyer, another prolific L.A. landlord, in 2013 for $218 million.

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The company listed the property, among others, with Eastdil Secured in July. Combined, Hines Global has put more than 2 million square feet on the market, spread across seven different properties.

Representatives from Heitman and Hines did not immediately return requests for comment. Brokers at Eastdil could not be reached.

Tenants at the Playa Vista campus include electronics giant Belkin International and the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technology, which have leases expiring in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Before it expanded at the nearby Playa Jefferson in 2016, Facebook also occupied about 12,000 square feet at the site.

Heitman and Hines have a relationship that dates back several decades. In 1997, Heitman hired Hines to reposition the 26-story building at 10100 Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City. Hines continues to serve as property manager and leasing representative at the 605,700-square-foot site.

If closed at that price, the deal would rank among the most expensive trades in Playa Vista. Other big-ticket sales in the tech-heavy market include Runway Playa Vista, which sold for $475 million in 2016, and the Bluffs at Playa Vista, which traded for nearly $430 million.

Correction: An SEC filing published Oct. 9 revealed the sale price was $335 million, not $400 million as sources told TRD.