GIC announces joint acquisitions of S$1.05 bil Washington DC office portfolio

SINGAPORE (Feb 23): Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC says it has formed joint ventures (JVs) with a group of investors to acquire over 2.1 million sq ft of office assets in the Washington DC metro, with a total of more than S$1.05 billion (RM3.3 billion) in aggregate asset value.

Among the participating investors are affiliates of Beacon Capital Partners, a real-estate developer, owner and manager of office properties in major US markets.

A Thursday joint release issued by GIC and Beacon revealed that one of the JVs includes the acquisition of Lafayette Centre, an approximately 789,000 sq ft Class ‘A’ LEED-Silver complex of three multi-tenant buildings located in the Central Business District (CBD) submarket.

This is in addition to Pentagon Centre, an approximately 912,000 sq ft complex of two buildings fully-leased for the long term to the US General Services Administration located in the Crystal City submarket of Arlington.

An affiliate of Beacon Capital Partners will continue to manage both Lafayette Centre and Pentagon Centre.

Separately, GIC invested alongside an existing Beacon-sponsored fund in Terrell Place — an approximately 426,000 sq ft Class ‘A’ office complex of three interconnected buildings located in the East End sub-market.

“During our ownership and management, we stabilised Lafayette Centre and Pentagon Centre through meaningful capital improvements and we achieved high levels of occupancy in one of the major US markets. In the case of Terrell Place, we see significant additional opportunity and are excited to have GIC join us as we create more value,” says Beacon’s president and COO Fred Seigel.

Adam Gallistel, GIC’s regional head of Americas, says he believes these acquisitions will strengthen the fund’s portfolio in the US and enable it to invest in scale in the Washington DC market. — theedgemarkets.com.sg

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