SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) has completed the previously announced acquisition of a 49.8 percent interest in Colorado Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot office campus in Santa Monica. The Boston-based REIT purchased the minority stake from Blackstone (NYSE: BX) for approximately $511.1 million.
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) owns the remaining 50.2 percent interest in Colorado Center. Boston Properties will be the managing partner of the TIAA-Boston Properties joint venture.
Situated in Los Angeles County, Colorado Center comprises six office buildings and a three-level, 3,100-space underground parking garage. There is currently no debt on the property, according to Boston Properties. The asset was 68 percent leased at the time of sale.
The acquisition marks the entry to metro Los Angeles for Boston Properties, which has previously focused on four other gateway markets: Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
“We are very pleased to enter the Los Angeles market through our acquisition of Colorado Center,” says Owen Thomas, CEO of Boston Properties. “Colorado Center is a proven and premier office campus, which provides us the opportunity to use our real estate skills to enhance and lease the property and realize the substantial upside potential we see imbedded in the asset.”
The Santa Monica office market is home to the largest concentration of technology, media, advertising and entertainment tenants in Los Angeles. Colorado Center sits on a 15-acre site in Santa Monica’s Media and Entertainment district.
The asset is located one block north of the Bergamot Station of Los Angeles County’s new light rail service that connects Colorado Center to downtown Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles.
As of March 31, Boston Properties’ portfolio consisted of 167 properties totaling approximately 46.3 million square feet, including 11 properties under construction or redevelopment totaling approximately 4.6 million square feet.
The REIT’s stock price closed on Wednesday, July 6 at $131.48 per share, up from $124.96 per share one year ago.
— John Nelson