Regions Southwest
Shorenstein Acquires Second Houston High-Rise in 7 Months
May 1, 2008
By: Tonie Auer, Southwest Correspondent

In its second major purchase in the Galleria submarket of Houston since October, San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties L.L.C. acquired the Class A office tower 5 Post Oak Park for an undisclosed amount.

The seller was a partnership between GE Asset Management Inc. and Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equities L.P. The seller was represented by the Houston office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP.   

The 28-story, 567,400-square-foot building (pictured) is located at 4400 Post Oak Parkway and is 93 percent leased with three tenants--Amegy Bank, UBS and Willbros USA--accounting for 50 percent of the building s leasable area. The purchase includes a 1,673-stall adjacent parking structure.   

In October, Shorenstein acquired 2000 West Loop South, a 356,750-square-foot Class A office building located in the Galleria submarket of Houston. The seller was a group of Tenant in Common (TIC) investors represented by US Advisors L.L.C. and Houston-based Means Knaus Partners L.P.  At the time of the purchase, 2000 West Loop South was 98 percent leased. The three major tenants--United Healthcare, Live Nation and AM/FM Operating--occupy 70 percent of the building.

“We like Houston as an office market,” Christine Kwak, managing director of Shorenstein Properties, told CPN today. “It has a great dynamics with good leasing velocity and positive absorption, second only to New York City in some categories. We also like the Galleria submarket because of its proximity to several high end residential neighborhoods.”

Shorenstein plans to assume management of the building with the acquisition and will make some minor upgrades to some of the common area space and building systems.  

Shorenstein Properties made the purchase on behalf of its ninth investment fund, Shorenstein Realty Investors Nine L.P., a $2 billion private commingled fund formed in the spring of 2007.

San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties has sponsored nine closed-end real estate investment funds.  

GE Asset Management is the exclusive real estate advisor to the General Electric Pension Trust, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the General Electric Co.  The firm is a global asset manager with $190 billion in assets under management, $7 billion of which is invested equity in real estate.

Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equities, now an affiliate of Morgan Stanley Real Estate, through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, owns and manages a portfolio of 51 office buildings totaling more than 20 million square feet located in select markets across the United States.


 
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