Blackstone Group has sold two Santa Monica office buildings for around $352.8M to a JV of Douglas Emmett and Qatar Investment Authority. Averaging about $1,025/SF for the 293K SF across the two buildings, it is one of the most expensive office deals in Southern California this year.

The Santa Monica properties, at 1299 Ocean Ave. and 429 Santa Monica Blvd., were part of the portfolio Blackstone acquired with its purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust in 2007, CoStar reports.

This deal follows the JV's purchase of 1.7M SF of Class-A office in Westwood from Blackstone for $1.34B in Q1 2016. That sale gave Douglas Emmett 74% control of the office market in the Westwood corridor. The latest buy gives Douglas Emmett control over 71% of Santa Monica's Class-A office market.

Eastdil Secured brokered the Santa Monica sale, which included a $142M secured, non-recourse, interest-only loan that matures in July 2019. Douglas Emmett, which contributed 20% of the equity capital for the purchase, stated the buildings provide a lease-up opportunity. 1299 Ocean is 79% leased and 429 Santa Monica is 70% leased.