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Blackstone Group, the world's largest asset manager, topped $100B in real estate assets in 2016. Though the firm has picked up a lot of commercial property this year, it's also been on a selling spree of late, including the sale of its Strategic Hotels & Resorts portfolio to Chinese insurer Anbang for $6.5B. Take a look at some of the firm's biggest 2016 deals in Bisnow's archives.
LA Office Towers
Date: February 2016
Buyer: Douglas Emmett
Price: $1.34B
Size: 1.72M SF
Douglas Emmett — one of the West Coast's largest office landlords — grabbed the four towers totaling 1.7M SF for $1.3B, or roughly $779/SF. The properties had been on the market since September, according to CoStar, and Blackstone picked them up in its buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust in 2007.
BioMed's Real Estate Holdings
Date: January 2016
Seller: BioMed Realty Trust
Price: $8B
Size: 18.9M SF
In a surprising turn of events, Blackstone closed this deal following the firm's disappointing Q4 results in which earnings fell 70%. Blackstone spent $23.75 a share for BioMed, with holdings in key markets like Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and San Diego.
Strategic Hotels & Resorts
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Date: March 2016
Buyer: Anbang Insurance Group
Price: $6.5B
Size: 16 properties
After pulling out of its $13.6B Starwood Hotels & Resorts merger earlier this year, Anbang plopped down a whopping $6.5B for Blackstone's 16 Strategic Hotels & Resorts properties.
RioCan Retail Portfolio
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Date: May 2016
Seller: RioCan REIT
Price: $1.9B
Size: 49 US retail properties
The REIT sold its US retail portfolio to Blackstone after a brief delay for RioCan to get approval from various third-party lenders. Most of the 49 properties are in the northern US and Texas.
11601 Wilshire Blvd
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Date: June 2016
Buyer: Hudson Pacific Properties
Price: $311M
Size: 500k SF
In a series of LA office building selloffs, Blackstone flipped this West LA tower for roughly $621/SF after purchasing it more than a decade ago for $163.8M.
University-Affiliated Portfolio
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Date: July 2016
Buyer: Ventas Inc
Price: $1.5B
Size: 23 properties
The portfolio, mostly consisting of life science and medical properties, marked Ventas' entry into university-affiliated real estate. Ventas is the second-largest US healthcare REIT in terms of market value, and owns 1,300 properties in the US.
Commerce Plaza
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Date: August 2016
Buyer: Zeller Realty
Price: $125M
Size: 515k SF
Zeller announced plans to acquire this three-building office complex from Blackstone in August, marking the biggest suburban office deal in Chicago this year. At that time, the complex was 95% occupied.
Alecta US Portfolio, Laeshore Plaza
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Date: August 2016
Seller: Alecta
Price: $1.8B
Size: 22 properties
Blackstone beat out Goldman Sachs for Swedish pension manager Alecta's US portfolio. The 22 properties are mostly retail and office buildings including Lakeshore Plaza, a shopping center in S.F.'s Sunset District.
Logistics Portfolio
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Date: September 2016
Seller: LBA Realty
Price: $1.5B
Size: 12M SF
This was Blackstone's largest US distribution acquisition since it left the logistics business after selling IndCor Properties for $8.1B. The majority of the facilities are on the West Coast, as is Irvine-based LBA Realty.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings
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Date: October 2016
Buyer: HNA Group
Price: $6.5B
Size: Full portfolio
For a 25% stake in Blackstone's Hilton Worldwide, the Chinese conglomerate forked over $26.25 a share, causing the world's second-largest hotel operator's interest in Hilton to fall to roughly 21%.
