NEW YORK, December 9, 2011 – Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (BPO: NYSE, TSX) today
announced that it has acquired, together with an investment consortium, 1801
California Street in Denver, CO from PSEG Energy Holdings for $215 million. Brookfield
Office Properties’ economic interest in this asset is approximately $110
million, or 51%, and it will manage the property on behalf of the consortium. The company completed the transaction using its available
cash resources and through an acquisition facility.
Located in Denver’s central
business district, 1801 California Street, formerly known as Qwest Tower, is a
54-story, Class A office building containing 1.4 million rentable square feet
and more than 1,500 parking spaces. It is the second tallest building in
Denver, after the Brookfield-owned Republic Plaza. The building is located
across the street from the 18th & California light rail and two
bus stations are within two blocks.
“The
Denver market has demonstrated strong fundamentals with positive absorption and
job growth over the past 18 months. 1801 California Street fits our strategy of
owning premier assets in the best-located areas within our operating markets,”
said Dennis Friedrich, president and global chief investment officer of
Brookfield Office Properties. “This acquisition generates another opportunity where we can add value
through pro-active management and continues our capital recycling program,
through which we have sold $1 billion of gross assets over the past 12 months,
redeploying $350 million of capital into more accretive investments.”
Brookfield is planning to undertake a capital program to reposition
the property as a market-leading asset. The building is currently 100%
leased; 80% of existing leases are set to expire by July 2012. The top tenants
include CenturyLink/Qwest, Patton Boggs and MWH Americas Inc.
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About Brookfield Office Properties
Brookfield
Office Properties owns, develops and manages premier office properties in the
United States, Canada and Australia. Its portfolio is comprised of interests in
111 properties totaling 77 million square feet in the downtown cores of New
York, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa,
Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, making it the global leader in the ownership and
management of office assets. Landmark properties include the World Financial
Center in Manhattan, Brookfield Place in Toronto, Bank of America Plaza in Los
Angeles, Bankers Hall in Calgary, Darling Park in Sydney and City Square in
Perth. The company’s common shares trade on the NYSE and TSX under the symbol
BPO. For more information, visit
www.brookfieldofficeproperties.com.
Contact: Melissa Coley, VP, Investor Relations and Communications (212) 417-7215;
[email protected]
Forward-Looking Statements
This
press release contains forward-looking statements and information within the
meaning of applicable securities legislation. Although Brookfield Office
Properties believes that the anticipated future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information
are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they
involve assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company
to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or
achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and
information. Accordingly, the company cannot give any assurance that its
expectations will in fact occur and cautions that actual results may differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements and information include, but are not limited to, general economic
conditions; local real estate conditions, including the development of
properties in close proximity to the company’s properties; timely leasing of
newly-developed properties and re-leasing of occupied square footage upon
expiration; dependence on tenants' financial condition; the uncertainties of
real estate development and acquisition activity; the ability to effectively
integrate acquisitions; interest rates; availability of equity and debt
financing; the impact of newly-adopted accounting principles on the company's
accounting policies and on period-to-period comparisons of financial results;
and other risks and factors described from time to time in the documents filed
by the company with the securities regulators in Canada and the United States,
including in the Annual Information Form under the heading “Business of
Brookfield Properties – Company and Real Estate Industry Risks,” and in the
company’s most recent interim report under the heading “Management’s Discussion
and Analysis.” The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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