WILMINGTON, Del. - The $15 billion defined benefit pension plan of DuPont was a buyer of Oak Brook International, a two-building, 100,000-square-foot office property in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill.
The seller was Golub & Co., Chicago, which will remain manager and leasing agent for the complex, which was developed in 1976 and is 99% leased, according to CB Commercial Real Estate Group, the broker on the transaction.
DuPont invested in the deal through an affiliate of Windsor Realty Fund II L.P., a co-investment fund with General Investment & Development Co., Boston.
The sale price was not disclosed, but Mitchell M. Roschelle, a partner at Coopers & Lybrand, said suburban Chicago office buildings are selling in the range of $42 to $83 per square foot.
AEW buys into Allright
BOSTON - Aldrich Eastman Waltch joined with Apollo Real Estate Fund to acquire Allright Parking Corp., the nation's largest parking lot operator.
The leveraged buy-out was valued at $232 million.
CS First Boston provided financing of $185 million.
AEW Partners L.P. will share equally in the company's equity with Apollo.
Thomas H. Nolan Jr., director of alternative investments for Aldrich Eastman Waltch, said parking lots provide high and stable cash-on-cash returns, paralleling utility stocks or corporate bonds.
However, they typically have lower operating costs and capital risk.
Graaskamp award winner
RICHMOND, Va. - Michael Giliberto has won the Pension Real Estate Association's Graaskamp award for 1996.
The award highlights and encourages high-quality research in the area of institutional investment and real estate.
It was named for James A. Graaskamp, a real estate researcher and distinguished professor of real estate at the University of Wisconsin.
Mr. Giliberto is a co-publisher of the Giliberto-Levy Commercial Mortgage Performance index along with John B. Levy & Co. Inc., Richmond, Va.
U.S. juggernaut
U.S.-based companies, especially technology firms, will continue to expand throughout the world, according to a survey of U.S. corporate real estate executives by Koll National Real Estate index and E&Y Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group and the International Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives.
Much of the expansion is taking place, and will continue into Asia and emerging nations, particularly those in Eastern Europe.
The most important factor in determining locations is accessibility to consumer populations. Cost concerns are at the bottom of the list.
Online venture
NEW YORK - Prudential Real Estate Investors, MIG Realty Advisors, Morgan Stanley & Co., INVESCO Realty Advisors and Berkeley Federal FSB, the banking unit of Ocwen Financial Corp., are among the charter users of REIS OnLine, a service that connects users to the REIS real property database and provides tools for investment monitoring and decision-making.
For instance, the service can help investors quickly determine cash flows and earning power of asset at prevailing or projected market rates.
Silver Spring lease pact
SILVER SPRING, Md. - CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc., the world's largest provider of commercial real estate services, teamed up with The Rouse Co., Columbia, Md., an owner and developer of commercial properties, in an exclusive leasing agreement for the Silver Spring Metro Plaza office complex at the Silver Spring Metro station in Montgomery County.
In hiring an outside firm, Rouse broke its long-standing practice of handling leases in-house. The reason? The tight and highly competitive local commercial property market.
Jay B. Olshonsky, vice president in charge of CB's suburban Maryland office, said: "We anticipate that Silver Spring will be the next 'hot' market in the region in terms of office space."
RREEF sells $500 million
SAN FRANCISCO - Steve Steppe, a partner with The RREEF Funds, said this year his firm will have sold $500 million in properties from partnerships that are expiring or close to expiring.
Mr. Steppe noted RREEF is allowing its funds to expire, rather than renewing them as some other real estate money managers are. But he noted some clients are redeploying assets from the property sales to other investments with RREEF.
Carrol joins Chadwick
LOS ANGELES - Albert Carrol has joined Chadwick, Saylor & Co. as vice president-real estate, a new position.
Mr. Carrol formerly was an asset manager and portfolio manager in the real estate investments unit at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
