Maguire Properties Inc. has hired brokerage Eastdil Secured LLC to sell a 17 property portfolio that includes four prime Glendale office buildings.
The portfolio includes properties from a $3 billion portfolio that the public REIT agreed to purchase from New York investment firm Blackstone Group LP last month, according to sources familiar with the properties. That deal is set to close in the second quarter of this year.
The Glendale buildings, which were not part of the Blackstone portfolio, include 611 N. Brand Blvd., 701 N. Brand Blvd., 801 N. Brand Blvd. and 700 N. Central Ave. The portfolio also includes a Glendale development site at 200 Burchett St.
“Their Glendale buildings are the best buildings in the market with the best locations,” said Bill Boyd, an executive vice president with Grubb & Ellis Co. who has leased Glendale office space since 1981. “That is significant for the Glendale market.”
The remaining 12 Class A properties in the Maguire portfolio are said to be located in Los Angeles and Orange counties. It is unclear how many of those properties are from the Blackstone portfolio, which includes downtown’s 52-story Two California Plaza and 555 S. Hope St. Los Angeles-based Maguire is the biggest office owner in downtown Los Angeles and owns the landmark 72-story U.S. Bank Tower.
A strong national leasing climate has strengthened the office market, creating an institutional appetite for product, according to real estate industry experts. “For the last couple of years there’s been more money chasing office properties than there is product. Recently we’ve seen major portfolios trading hands,”said Steve Kolsky, managing principal at Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate brokerage and services firm.
A source said that the Maguire is likely unloading less desirable properties from the 6.8 million-square-foot Blackstone portfolio, as well as previously held Maguire properties also considered less desirable by Chief Executive Robert Maguire.
Calls to Maguire and Eastdil were not immediately answered.
