Macquarie Office Trust Ventures Into US Market

SYDNEY-Locally based Macquarie Office Trust is buying an 80% stake in two class A CBD office buildings in Wilmington, DE, marking the Australia-listed property trust’s first offshore investment.The interest was acquired from Plymouth Meeting, PA-based Brandywine Realty Trust, which retains a 20% interest. The buildings were valued for the transaction at $112.8 million. Macquarie Office Trust’s stake equals $90.2 million. As part of the transaction, Macquarie Office Trust and Brandywine jointly obtained $74.5 million of five-year fixed rate mortgage debt on the properties.

The two buildings, 1 and 3 Christina Centre, have a combined 632,797 sf that is fully leased. The credit card subsidiary of Bank One Corp. leases 91% of the space. Macquarie Office Trust says the average lease term in the buildings is 11 years and that the initial income yield on the investment will be 9%.

“We are very pleased with the enhanced earnings our Trust will derive from this acquisition,” says Macquarie Office Trust CEO Simon Jones. “We are excited about increasing Macquarie Office Trust’s exposure to the North American markets.”