Hines Liquidation: Here's What The REIT Has Unloaded So Far
It’s been two and a half months since Hines REIT announced plans to liquidate its holdings and dissolve the company. During that time Hines has not been idle, and while the REIT still has an aggregate value of $2.5B and a lot of assets to unload, here are five of the firm’s biggest deals in the making.
Location: American West
Buyer: Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII
Blackstone isn’t standing idly by while Hines REIT empties the tank, instead the behemoth picked up seven office properties for $1.16B in late June. Together the buildings contain around 3M SF of office space and include the Howard Hughes Center (pictured) in LA and properties in Seattle and San Jose, CA, along with other locations.
Location: Dallas
Buyer: Clarion Partners
This 17-story office building changed hands at the end of July when Hines handed the reins to Clarion Partners. The 436k SF tower is Class-A office space and stands at 95% leased, which isn’t surprising seeing as it’s the office anchor to neighboring Victory Park, an up-and-coming Dallas neighborhood.
Location: Dallas, Texas
Buyer: Fortis Property Group
Hines made another huge sale in Dallas just after selling One Victory Park, unloading the iconic 55-story, 1.3M SF tower on 2200 Ross Ave to Fortis Property Group. Fortis plans to reposition the trophy property by updating curb appeal, increasing accessibility and adding food service amenities. Fortis CEO Jonathan Landau says he pushed to buy the building due to its location and iconic outline.
Location: Dublin
Buyers: Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, Bayerische Versorgungskammer
Dublin is a hotspot for international investment right now and this property is no different—several large funds are battling to sign the $660M contract. Among the combatants are the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and Germany’s largest public pension fund, Munich’s Bayerische Versorgungskammer. The target sales price represents a huge gain for Hines, which bought the property as part of a consortium in 2014 for $250M.
Location: London
Buyer: Undisclosed
This office building in London’s Canary Wharf district is for sale by Hines REIT as part of a $5.5B property dump. The firm hired Lazard to advise on the sale, but so far nobody has taken any bites on this massive offering—at least not publicly.
