Brookfield Buys LaSalle Stake in Tokyo Commercial Complex as Part of $1.6B Deal

Brookfield Asset Management has acquired a stake in a Tokyo commercial complex, and a Nagoya logistics project, for a total of $1.6 billion, according to a statement this week, as the Canadian giant raises its bets on Asia’s second-largest economy.

“These transactions are representative of the opportunities we’ll be seeking in Japan in 2025 as we look to deploy significant real estate capital into the country, particularly in logistics and high-quality office,” said Ankur Gupta, head of Asia Pacific and Middle East real estate at Brookfield.

The firm identified its Tokyo prize as Gajoen, a commercial complex in Tokyo’s Meguro ward, with market sources indicating to Mingtiandi that Brookfield had taken over LaSalle Investment Management’s estimated 30 percent stake in the 1.5 million square foot (139,355 square metre) complex in a deal which values the asset in the neighbourhood of JPY 160 billion ($1 billion).

A few hours west of the capital by bullet train, Brookfield picked up a 1 million square foot site in the city of Anpachi for development of a 2.4 million square foot warehouse, according to the release. Construction on the greater Nagoya shed is expected to start during the first half of this year, with completion set for early 2027.

Amazon Japan HQ

Brookfield said its Japan team will manage the Gajoen complex, with plans to reposition the property through renovation and active asset management. Gajoen’s office towers are said to be around 90 percent occupied by Amazon, which uses the complex for its Japanese headquarters, while the 60-key Hotel Gajoen Tokyo is a popular wedding destination.

The Toronto-based firm’s new partner in the complex is mainland sovereign fund China Investment Corporation, which had teamed up with LaSalle nearly a decade ago to buy the landmark development from Mori Trust for JPY 140 billion. Tokyo-based Mori had bought the complex from US private equity firm Lone Star less than a year earlier for JPY 130 billion.

LaSalle declined to comment on the deal. CIC’s website was blocked to overseas visitors when Mingtiandi tried to inquire.

Brookfield had been linked to the Gajoen complex from as early as October 2022, when Bloomberg reported that the Canadian firm had emerged as the sole bidder for the complex.

“Japan is a strategically important market for Brookfield,” Ikushin Tsuchida, a vice president with Brookfield’s real estate team, said in the statement. “Leveraging Brookfield’s operational expertise in placemaking and managing large mixed-use assets, we see strong potential to grow Gajoen, while tight vacancy will further accelerate the demand of logistics facilities in Greater Nagoya, which will give us an advantage when leasing the Anpachi Logistics Development.”

The transactions for the Gajoen stake and the Nagoya plot are understood to have closed at the end of 2024, with the mixed-use deal done on Brookfield’s balance sheet and the logistics buy made on behalf of the group’s global opportunistic strategy.

Rush Continues

Brookfield’s mega-deal comes amid a rush of foreign investment into Japan fuelled by the soft yen, low borrowing costs and undervalued assets.

US private equity titan Blackstone announced last month that it was set to buy the Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho commercial complex in central Tokyo from Seibu Holdings for $2.6 billion, a sum that would mark the largest-ever real estate acquisition by a foreign investor in Japan.

The 2.4 million square foot development in Chiyoda ward comprises two fully occupied high-rise office towers, 135 residential units and a 250-key hotel, plus conference and wedding venues, restaurants and retail shops.