Hudson Pacific-Allianz JV Pays $291M for Ferry Building
Los Angeles-based Hudson Pacific will own a 55% interest in the joint venture and will serve as the managing member and day-to-day operator of the property, while Allianz will own 45% interest.
SAN FRANCISCO—The iconic Ferry Building on the San Francisco waterfront is being acquired by a newly formed joint venture of Hudson Pacific Properties and Allianz Real Estate from Blackstone affiliate Equity Office in a deal valued at approximately $291 million.
The all-cash deal for The Ferry Building, which includes 192,532 square feet of Class A office and 75,486 square feet of retail, is expected to close this week. The transaction also includes the land and improvements to the building. Los Angeles-based Hudson Pacific Properties will own a 55% interest in the joint venture and will serve as the managing member and day-to-day operator of the property, while Allianz will own 45% interest. The transaction has been approved by the Port of San Francisco. The remaining term on the ground lease is 49 years.
The disposition of the Ferry Building comes a decade after Blackstone’s $39-billion purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust. With the sale of the Ferry Building and other holdings, Blackstone stands to triple its $3.8-billion equity investment, those familiar with the investment have stated to Globest.com.
“The acquisition of the Ferry Building fits perfectly with our strategy of identifying creative ways to improve the performance of exceptional real estate within global centers of tech innovation,” says Victor Coleman, chairman and CEO of Hudson Pacific Properties. “As a long-term owner-operator of Bay Area real estate, we take our stewardship of this world-renowned San Francisco landmark seriously.
The Ferry Building is fully leased and its tenants include SS&C Technologies, Inc., Meltwater, Inc., Meritage Group LP and Niantic, Inc. The property also features restaurant and retail tenants such as The Slanted Door and Blue Bottle Coffee. The Ferry Building Marketplace, a public food market, is organized along a dramatic indoor street, the Nave, and attracts more than 8.8 million visitors a year.
“We are proud to have been part of the Ferry Building’s evolution over the past several years as an icon of the San Francisco waterfront, since our initial investment through Equity Office and we are very pleased to be selling to Hudson Pacific Properties and Allianz, who will be outstanding and visionary owners and will continue as great stewards of this historic property,” says Kenneth Caplan, global co-head of real estate at Blackstone. “
Hudson Pacific announced last week that it had signed Netflix to fully lease its EPIC office building currently under construction in Hollywood, CA.