PRESS RELEASES

Hines Acquires Citigroup Center in Los Angeles

9/18/08

(LOS ANGELES) – The Los Angeles office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that its Hines U.S. Office Value Added Fund II, L.P. (HVAF II) has acquired Citigroup Center from Broadway Partners. The 48-story, 891,056-square-foot, ENERGY STAR®-labeled office tower is located at 444 Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles. The seller was represented by Eastdil Secured. Hines represented itself in the transaction. Hines will lease and manage the property. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Designed by A.C. Martin & Associates and completed in 1981, the distinctively modern office tower—made famous as the backdrop of the 1980s television series LA Law—occupies a premier site on the corner of Flower and 5th streets in the Bunker Hill/financial district. Citigroup Center is approximately 93 percent leased to tenants including: BP, Citicorp and Wells Fargo Bank.

A popular retail plaza with three open-terrace levels, provides a variety of cuisines and conveniences to tenants while an elevated pedestrian sky-bridge connects the property to the Westin Bonaventure. Capital improvements at the property since 2004 include remodeled corridors and restrooms, a new valet parking station, improved landscaping and various mechanical updates.

“We are excited to have purchased this Class A asset at the nexus of L.A.’s government, legal and financial communities, and we see a significant upside,” said Dave Congdon, Hines senior vice president and HVAF II fund manager. “We are attracted to the city’s economic strength and diversity, as well as the noteworthy investments in cultural, transportation and residential sectors that have sparked a renaissance in downtown L.A.”

“The acquisition of this landmark property represents another milestone in our more than 20-year involvement in downtown Los Angeles, as well as our continued commitment to acquire high-quality investments in a strongly competitive marketplace,” said Colin Shepherd, senior vice president with Hines in Los Angeles.

Broadway Partners founder and CEO Scott Lawlor said, “The sale of Citigroup Center is another positive step along the way in the execution of our asset disposition program initiated earlier this year. In the midst of the most challenging investment market seen in many decades, we continue to unlock and harvest the value of properties in our portfolio.”  

Broadway Partners is a private national real estate investment and management firm headquartered in New York City with regional offices in Los Angeles and Chicago. Its partners represent a cross section of domestic and international private and institutional investors. The firm invests in high quality office properties in select markets nationwide. Since 2000, Broadway Partners has acquired office properties with a value in excess of $15 billion.

Hines entered the Los Angeles market in 1987 with the development of Figueroa at Wilshire, which was also designed by A.C. Martin & Associates. In 2005, the firm acquired Union Bank Plaza. Hines currently owns approximately five million square feet in the Los Angeles area.

Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm’s historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes more than 1,000 properties representing approximately 435 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments. With offices in more than 100 cities in 16 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $22.9 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information.