LOS ANGELES—Hudson Pacific is selling legacy assets that are considered non-strategic to its core investment plan, according to Alex Vouvalides, chief investment officer at Hudson Pacific. Earlier this week, GlobeSt.com reported that Hudson Pacific agreed to sell its First Financial office property to Douglas Emmett for $89 million. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of the year.

“Hudson recently repositioned and stabilized the property, which included a renovation of the courtyard lobby and the addition of onsite amenities, like Equinox,” Vouvalides tells GlobeSt.com. “We consistently look to sell non-strategic assets and recycle capital into higher-value lease up, development and redevelopment opportunities.  We intend to use proceeds from the disposition pursuant to a like-kind exchange under the Internal Revenue Code Section 1031, which could apply to properties to be purchased from Blackstone as part of the Equity Office Properties' San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley portfolio.”

Hudson Pacific did not market the property to investors. Once it decided to sell the asset, it reached out to Douglas Emmett directly. “We reached out directly to Douglas Emmett, knowing they were the most logical buyer as the dominant landlord in that submarket,” says Vouvalides. “We were able to agree on pricing and terms with Douglas Emmett. We have long standing relationships with many of the executives, which made the process go smoothly.”

Hudson Pacific acquired the property in June 2010 when its predecessor entity consumed its initial public offering. The 224,000-square-foot, six-story property includes a four-story parking garage.