O1 Properties, one of the largest owners and managers of a portfolio of high quality office properties in Moscow, (purchaser) and a consortium between leading developer AIG/Lincoln, leading Russian investment bank VTB Capital and global private investment firm TPG Holdings (sellers) announce the completion of an investment transaction involving White Square, a class A office center in Moscow. It was the largest single asset office real estate investment transaction ever completed in the Russian market.
White Square Office Center consists of three office buildings comprising approximately 76,000 m² of rentable area. Completed in 2009, the complex is the first of two phases co-developed by AIG/Lincoln and Coalco, a Russian development company. Coalco sold its holdings in the White Square project to a consortium of major international financial investors led and arranged by VTB Capital and TPG Holdings in May 2011.
White Square is widely recognized as Russia's premier office development and occupies a commanding site in Moscow's Central Business District with outstanding prominence at Belorusskaya Square and the Church of St. Nicolas. It has received critical acclaim, winning the Commercial Real Estate Moscow "Class A Office Center" award and earning developers AIG/Lincoln and Coalco the "Developers of the Year" accolade in 2010. The architects for White Square, ABD architects and APA Wojciechowski, also won the award, “Architects of the Year” for their work on White Square in 2010.
The prestigious complex has attracted significant occupier interest and is leased to major international tenants including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, McKinsey & Co and Microsoft. White Square boasts eight restaurants and cafes on its ground floor, including Torro Grill, an Argentine steak house, and Coffeemania, a popular city café. The pedestrian pathways, central fountain and outdoor dining terraces have made White Square a landmark meeting place and entertainment destination.
Dmitry Mints, Chairman of O1 Properties, commented: “The acquisition of White Square marked a successful closure of a big year (2012) for our Company and an important milestone in the further development of O1 Properties. This property will take its justified place among other trophy assets in our portfolio and raise its Gross Asset Value to almost $4 billion”.
Justin Berry, Senior Director, Capital Markets, CBRE, added: “White Square has achieved major critical acclaim and commercial success since it opened in 2009. This transaction, the largest single asset office sale in Russia ever, demonstrates the project’s ongoing investor appeal as well as underscores the significant fundamentals of the building and wider prospects for the super prime office market in Moscow. The landmark sale also reconfirms AIG/Lincoln’s status as a leading developer in Central and
Eastern Europe.”
Source: FTI Consulting
