BELLEVUE, WASH. — Bravern Office Commons, a 750,000-square-foot office complex located in Bellevue that is wholly leased to Microsoft, has traded for $410 million. The seller was a joint venture between the U.S. arm of Investcorp and Schnitzer West. The buyer was a client advised by Principal Global Investors.
Bravern Office Commons comprises two high-rise towers and an adjacent parking lot. The Investcorp/Schnizter West venture developed the Class A buildings in 2007 as part of an $800 million mixed-use development known as The Bravern. In addition to the office component, the project contains two luxury residential towers and 305,000 square feet of retail space occupied by Neiman Marcus, Jimmy Choo, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and other luxury tenants. The office and multifamily components were not included in the deal.
This sale marks the third large transaction Investcorp has been a part of this year. Last month, the firm sold its stake in Washington, D.C.'s Maritime Plaza office complex to Corporate Office Properties Trust for $119 million. The office complex, which was acquired by Investcorp in 2005 in a joint venture with Brickman Associates, comprises two Class A buildings totaling 362,000 square feet that are located adjacent to the Washington Naval Yard.
In June, Investcorp, through its Real Estate Credit Fund, sold the mortgage note it held for the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Coast Guard to Talos Capital Limited for $89 million. It first acquired the note, which has a $100 million par value, in 2009 for $76 million.
“These were all profitable exits, even though, in the case of Maritime Plaza and The Bravern, these acquisition investments were made in 2005 and 2007, respectively, when the market was at its peak. This [profit from the sales] is a result of both our selection of high-quality properties and active management during ownership,” said Herb Meyers, managing director of Investcorp's real estate group, in a statement.
“With increasing levels of liquidity in today's market, we are now also seeing buying buying opportunities in both the equity and debt spaces. In fact, we are actively negotiating to acquire over $120 million of new deals in the next 30 to 45 days,” Meyers added.
— Coleman Wood