Mingtiandi

Asia real estate and outbound investment news

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Sign Up / Login Logout

Lost your password?
Register
Forgotten Password
Cancel

Register For This Site

A password will be e-mailed to you.

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • Join the Mingtiandi Asia Value-Add Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Multi-Family Investment Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Logistics Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Sustainable Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Data Centre Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Office Strategies Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum in November
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

Mapletree Said Buying Would-Be Uber HQ in San Francisco Bay Area for $420M

2021/02/05 by Jon Peterson Leave a Comment

Mapletree Investment

Mapletree may soon be the owner of this Oakland landmark

Singapore’s Mapletree Investments is making another bet on the future of the US tech economy as the Temasek Holdings-controlled real estate firm is linked to the pending sale of an office building in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Uptown Station office building in Oakland has been placed under contract, with Mapletree understood to be buying the recently renovated asset for about $420 million, according to three sources familiar with the sale, although no final price has been confirmed.

Altus Argus Enterprise

The acquisition of the 396,808 square foot (36,865 square metre) asset, which has yet to close at this time, follows 2020 Mapletree investments in US offices and data centres, with the company having also established a dedicated REIT for holding US and European logistics properties.

Uptown Revival

Mapletree’s latest US target is what was once envisioned as the world headquarters for ride-sharing giant Uber at 1955 Broadway in Oakland’s revived Uptown neighbourhood. Uber sold the building in 2017 without ever having moved in, and the 1929-vintage landmark is now fully leased to digital payments firm Square.

Hiew Yoon Kong

Mapletree chief Hiew Yoon Kong likes the tech economy

Los Angeles investment firm CIM had purchased the property from Uber for $180 million, or about $505 per square foot, according to public records and earlier reporting by property news site The Registry.

After securing the lease with Square, the L.A. firm then put the property up for sale last year, with Blackstone signing a contract in February 2020 to purchase Uptown Station for a reported $405 million or $1,020 per square foot, according to local market sources.

A few months after Blackstone had agreed to purchase the four-storey complex, the New York-based firm chose to pull out of the acquisition in the wake of uncertainty caused by COVID-19, despite having to walk away from a $20 million non-refundable deposit.

CIM Group put Uptown Station back on the market last month with an asking sale price close to $420 million. The San Francisco office of Knight Frank Newmark has been representing the seller, although the company did not respond to an email in time for this story.

Should the transaction with Mapletree go through, the sale of the property would produce a cap rate — or investment yield — of 5 percent, based on the property’s current net operating income, as stated by a source aware of the transaction.

If the deal for Uptown Station is consummated at that reported rate, it would mark a record $1,058 per square foot — the highest ever for an Oakland office property on a price per square foot basis. The current record was set by France’s AXA Investment Management in 2019 when it purchased 180 Grand in Oakland at a rate of $632 per square foot, according to public records.

Steadfast Tech Tenant

With the pandemic having shaken the confidence of corporate occupiers, Uptown Station has a tenant covenant that has enhanced value for institutions like Mapletree, which manages $45.3 billion in assets globally.

Sustainability Forum

Square is signed up to occupy all of Uptown Station’s office space for the next 11 years, providing guaranteed cash flow from a fast-growing tenant.

Before CIM had acquired the one-time Sears store in December 2017, Uber had purchased the Oakland icon for $123.5 million in 2015 and spent about $8 million more to repurpose the Beaux-Arts structure.

Menlo Park-based Lane Partners and its equity partner, Chicago-based Walton Street Capital, had acquired the project on Oakland’s Broadway in 2014 for $24.2 million and invested another $40 million in the project.

Mapletree Grows in the US

Singapore’s Mapletree has invested in the Northern California market previously and holds a number of properties in the region, including assets in Redwood City, Livermore, Newark, Mountain View and West Sacramento.

Sustainability Forum

The company’s US properties frequently align with tech occupiers, including a purchase last September by Mapletree Industrial Trust, a Singapore-listed REIT managed by the private firm, which agreed to pay at least $204 million for a Virginia data centre leased to Facebook.

That transaction came after the listed trust had paid $211 million last June to buy out Mapletree’s 60 percent stake in a portfolio of US data centres purchased as part of a $1.37 billion deal with Digital Realty in 2019.

Last September, Mapletree agreed to pay $189.1 million to purchase a portfolio of office properties in the Perimeter Park tech enclave near the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle in North Carolina.

Further back in 2018, the company purchased a 29-storey office tower in Minneapolis from Hines Global REIT for $258.5 million.

A version of this story first appeared in The Registry, a San Francisco Bay Area real estate news site.

Related Stories

  • Wanda Sells One Beverly Hills Project for a Reported $420MWanda Sells One Beverly Hills Project for a Reported $420M
  • Mapletree Announces Plans for First Hong Kong Data Centre After Buying $104M SiteMapletree Announces Plans for First Hong Kong Data Centre After Buying $104M Site
  • CapitaLand Launches $300M Multifamily Joint Venture in Austin, TXCapitaLand Launches $300M Multifamily Joint Venture in Austin, TX
  • Shenzhen Developer Agrees to Pay $1M Fine in California Bribery ScandalShenzhen Developer Agrees to Pay $1M Fine in California Bribery Scandal

Share this now

  • LinkedIn
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Filed Under: Outbound Investment Tagged With: California, daily-sp, Featured, Mapletree Investments, Oakland, US, weekly-sp

Office Investment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Yardi Proptech Report

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

Sustainability Forum

MTD TV

Proptech Forum: Logistics Tech

Logistics Experts Reveal How Tech Is Reshaping Asia’s Distribution Centres

Investors Boost APAC Logistics Deals Amid E-Commerce Boom

More MTD TV Videos

Latest Stories

Rushabh Desai, CEO Allianz Real Estate Asia Pacific

Allianz Real Estate Ups Japanese Holdings With $89.5M Tokyo Apartment Buy

john marsh logos

Logos Aims for $2.3 Aussie Portfolio After Sydney, Singapore Acquisitions

Ascendas India Trust to Buy Pegatron Factory for $29M and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Sponsored Features

Tony Horrell

Colliers’ Global Investor Sentiment Report Anticipates Up to 50% Surge in Investment in 2021 Sponsored Feature

Andrew-Slevin-John-Foord (4)

Insurtech to Help Address Underinsurance Across Asian Real Estate Assets in 2021 Sponsored Feature

CK Lau

Asia Pacific Logistics Sector: Increasingly Varied Sector Requires Multiple Approaches Sponsored Feature

More Sponsored Features>>

MTD-QR-Code-320

Top Stories

CFLD Default on $530M Bond Highlights Developer Risks From China Credit…CFLD Default on $530M Bond Highlights Developer Risks From China Credit Crackdown

Evergrande Courts HK Tycoons for Electric Car Push and More Asia Real…Evergrande Courts HK Tycoons for Electric Car Push and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Weave Moves into Multi-Family With Buy in Hong Kong’s Mid-LevelsWeave Moves into Multi-Family With Buy in Hong Kong's Mid-Levels


Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • 2021 Mingtiandi Event Calendar
    • Join the Mingtiandi Asia Value-Add Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Multi-Family Investment Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Logistics Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Sustainable Real Estate Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Data Centre Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Office Strategies Forum 2021
    • Join the Mingtiandi Proptech Forum in November
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Design & Construction
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

More Mingtiandi

  • About Mingtiandi
  • Contact Mingtiandi
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
  • Join the Mingtiandi Team