China’s HNA Group has bought an office tower and retail mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota for $316m (€288m).

The Chinese conglomerate, which has been building up a global property portfolio, closed the deal for 33 South Sixth-City Center on Wednesday, according to sources.

Shorenstein Properties, which bought the mixed-use scheme in 2012 for $206m, made the sale on behalf of its $1.23bn Shorenstein Realty Investors Ten fund.

Both parties declined to comment.

Tom Holtz, an executive vice president at CBRE who advised on the deal, said: “This sale further demonstrates the health of the Twin Cities market and its attractiveness to foreign capital such as HNA.”

The deal comes a day after the presidential election and will provide some reassurance to market participants fearing a slowdown in real estate transactions.

Mark Gabbay, CEO for Asia at LaSalle Investment Management, told IPE Real Estate this week that the US would remain a major destination for global capital, including Asian investors. But he said there could be “a short-term pause” as the election “result causes uncertainty in the largest safe-haven market”.

HNA has been active in global real estate markets in recent months. It recently bought a 25% stake in the Hilton hotel group from Blackstone for $6.5bn.

The scheme includes a 1.2m sqft office tower – the largest building in the central business district of Minneapolis – and a 272,767sqft urban retail asset.

It is 95% occupied, with the Target Corporation occupying 73% of office space in the complex.

New retailers, including Saks Off Fifth, negotiated a 15-year lease with Target for its corporate office space and implemented a series of measures designed to improve tenant experience.

Shorenstein held a ground lease on the 583-room Marriott City Center hotel attached to the scheme but sold the lease in January for $34.3m to a Host Hotels & Resorts entity.

Topics

Related Companies