Regions Midatlantic | Philadephia
Brandywine Closes $245M Sale of Philly Properties to JV
Dec 20, 2007
By: Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Brandywine Realty Trust has just wrapped up the sale of 29 office properties in the Philadelphia area to its joint venture with DRA Advisors L.L.C.

Brandywine contributed the assets, including 500/501 Office Center Drive (pictured), which account for an aggregate 1.6 million square feet of Class A space, to the partnership for approximately $245 million.

As per the terms of the agreement, first announced on Nov. 8, Brandywine owns a 20 percent of the joint venture, leaving DRA with the remaining 80 percent stake. The deal yielded net proceeds of nearly $231 million, which the REIT will use to pay down existing debut under its unsecured revolving credit facility. A separate agreement between the partners calls for a Brandywine subsidiary to oversee management and leasing responsibilities for the portfolio, which is presently just over 95 percent occupied.

With locations in four cities, the joint venture's portfolio provides a significant presence in Suburban Philadelphia. Eleven properties featuring an aggregate 672,900 square feet are in Allentown; nine properties totaling 318,000 square feet are located in Horsham; six properties covering 457,900 square feet sit in Ft. Washington; and Bensalem is home to the remaining three assets, which encompass 167,300 square feet.

Beyond its activities with the joint venture, Brandywine retains a strong interest in the suburban office market, so the decision to contribute the 29-property portfolio to the partnership was not indicative of any uneasy feelings about areas outside of Philadelphia city limits. "We're completing Metroplex Corporate Center, a large development in Plymouth Meeting," Brandywine executive vice president & CFO Howard Sipzner told CPN "We're very committed to the city center and the surrounding suburbs." Other projects in the works serve as a testament to developers' confidence in the suburban market. In Trevose, O'Neill Properties Group recently broke ground on the 1.2 million square-foot Horizon Corporate Center, which will carry the distinction of being the largest green office development in suburban Philadelphia.

Radnor, Penn.-based Brandywine owns, develops and manages predominantly Class A office properties and has a portfolio encompassing a total of approximately 44.1 million square feet. New York-based DRA is an investment advisor that focuses on real estate investment management services for institutional and private investors. The firm manages more than $9 billion in assets consisting of about 20 million square feet of office and industrial space, 32 million square feet of retail and 19,000 residential units.

 
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