The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) announced today its acquisition of a 50% interest in two prime downtown Vancouver office properties: 401 West Georgia Street and 800 Burrard Street.
The board said the total property valuation is $230 million, resulting in a CPPIB equity investment of $115 million before closing costs, adjustments and working capital.
Oxford Properties, which owns the other 50% interest, will continue to be responsible for the property management and leasing activities.
Peter Ballon, vice-president and head of CPPIB’s Americas real-estate investments division, said: “This acquisition expands CPPIB’s Vancouver office portfolio to six high-quality properties totalling over 1.5 million square feet in a market where quality assets rarely trade.
“The downtown Vancouver office market is very attractive for long-term investors such as CPPIB.”
401 West Georgia Street is a 270,000-square-foot, 22-storey, Class A office building on a site that occupies a city block between Georgia and Dunsmuir Streets.
800 Burrard is a 222,000-square-foot, 19-storey, Class A office building at the intersection of Burrard and Robson in the downtown core.
CPPIB and Oxford Properties are also co-investors in a downtown Vancouver development project: 1021 West Hastings Street, a project that will be a 275,000-square-foot, 35-storey, Class AAA LEED office tower.
At December 31, 2011, CPPIB’s real estate investments totalled $14.4 billion, which is 9.5% of the CPP fund.
