Sun Life Financial unit pays $700M for Tokyo office tower

BentallGreenOak recently committed to invest $10B into Japanese property over next 3 years

BentallGreenOak CEO Sonny Kalsi and Avex Group's headquarters (Photos via Avex; BentallGreenOak)
BentallGreenOak CEO Sonny Kalsi and Avex Group's headquarters (Photos via Avex; BentallGreenOak)

UPDATED, Jan. 22, 2021, 11:01 a.m.: BentallGreenOak isn’t wasting any time putting into action its plan to spend billions on Japanese real estate.

The unit of Canadian insurance giant Sun Life Financial agreed to pay $693 million for an 18-story Tokyo office building, according to the news outlet Mingtiandi.

The building is the headquarters of Avex Group, a Japanese entertainment conglomerate that recently announced it expected operating losses for 2020 because of the pandemic.

BentallGreenOak, the investment unit Sun Life, said last month that it plans to double its staff in Japan, and invest $10 billion into real estate there over the next three years.

BentallGreenOak isn’t the only investor ramping up its activity in Japan. Investment in Japanese commercial real estate was up 27.6 percent in the first nine months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019.

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BentallGreenOak expected that $7 billion of its planned investment will go toward purchases of office properties in Japanese central business districts. The Avex Building sits off Omotesando street, a premier shopping district stretching through Shibuya and Minato districts.

Dan Klebes, BentallGreenOak’s head of Japan, said that the pandemic will lead to softening prices, “presenting some very good opportunities over a five-year hold period.”

Avex will continue to lease the property through the closing, which is expected sometime in the first quarter. [Mingtiandi] — Dennis Lynch 

Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified BentallGreenOak’s CEO.