Hines Interest LP has bought out financial partner Oaktree Capital Management LP for two of Oaktree’s remaining holdings in Brea Place, one of the city’s largest office complexes, in a $95 million deal that’s tops for Orange County this year.
Houston-based Hines and the Los Angeles equity firm acquired Brea Place—a collection of six buildings on South State College Boulevard, just north of the Brea Mall—in 2014 for $71 million.
The initial deal included close to 560,000 square feet of office space just off the Orange (57) Freeway, and also included roughly 10 acres of land that’s now being developed into a 653-unit apartment project.
Hines is working with Arlington, Va.-based AvalonBay Communities Inc. for the residential addition to the office park; the two companies already bought out Oaktree for that development site, in a 2018 deal reported to be in the $25 million range.
Hines and Oaktree have also sold off individual office properties at Brea Place to owner-users; a $23 million deal last year was made with government consulting agency HdL Cos. for an 80,000-square-foot building at 120 S. State College Blvd.
Oaktree’s latest sale—to Hines—was for two of the largest office properties at the complex, at 135 and 145 S. State College Blvd.
Those two buildings total about 350,000 square feet and were sold to Hines for $94.8 million, property records indicate.
The latest deal works out to about $270 per square foot.
Oaktree still has a stake in one building at the campus, at 140 S. State College; it runs 77,522 square feet.
First OC Apartments
The latest sale comes as the local office of Hines in Newport Beach, which counts an area portfolio of some 4 million square feet, is working to build apartments at Brea Place.
The new 529,000-square-foot residential development includes two separate midrise projects on different sides of the office complex.
Construction for the project started last year.
It was designed by Architects Orange and will include outdoor plazas, room for a farmer’s market, a multiuse area and a pedestrian paseo, the two companies previously said.
The apartment project is Hines’ first multifamily project in Orange County.
Office Investments
Hines has invested north of $40 million in upgrades at the 30-acre Brea Place since its acquisition.
The investor and developer previously said it’s had about 440,000 square feet worth of deals at the complex since its initial investment there.
Notable tenants at the midrise complex include Manufacturers Bank, Becton Dickinson, CoolSys and TP Link.
