Mirae’s U.S. Real Estate Fund Sees Major Loss
Korean investment firm Mirae Asset Global Investments has reportedly suffered a substantial loss in its U.S. portfolio as the office market continues to weaken.
A fund the firm created in 2015, the Mirae Asset Maps Frontier US Private Real Estate Trust No. 5, has posted losses of more than 70% as of May 26, The Korea Economic Daily reported.
Mirae didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment.
Among the investors in Mirae's fund were JLL, Shinhan Life Insurance Co. and Korea Scientists & Engineers Mutual-aid Association, KED reported.
The first asset the fund acquired, a D.C. office building at 1750 K St. NW that it bought for $115M in June 2015, has since seen its value drop to 25% of its purchase price, according to KED.
In 2020, Mirae secured $68.5M to refinance the office building shortly after the building's anchor tenant, Wiley Rein, announced plans to consolidate its office space and moved to Tishman Speyer's 2050 M St., CoStar reported. The law firm had occupied more than 130K SF at 1750 K St. NW.
The property's latest tax assessment valued it at $90.4M, D.C. property records show. But D.C.'s largest office owners raised alarms late last year about the city not properly assessing office market conditions, and D.C. officials then said in March they expect plunging office valuations to sap more than $460M from the city's tax revenues in the coming years.
Mirae has invested in over 88 real estate properties across industrial, office, multifamily and hospitality, with its 53-property portfolio valued at $16.1B as of December 2022, according to its website.
Last month, a study found that Asian investors made up the largest source of capital for real estate funds globally. These investors put up $94.3B for nonlisted real estate funds.
Although more money is flowing from these international investors, the U.S. office market is still weaker than pre-pandemic, with older downtown buildings being hit the hardest, as vacancy reached all-time highs.
