Trizec Buys Full Stake in Ernst & Young Plaza

Expanding its Los Angeles-area holdings, Trizec Properties Inc., the nation’s second-largest owner of office space, said Friday that it had bought out its joint venture partner in the 41-story Ernst & Young Plaza in downtown Los Angeles for $112.4 million.

New York-based Trizec bought the 75% of the complex it did not own from one of Goldman Sachs Group’s Whitehall Street real estate funds. The deal values the property at Figueroa and 7th streets at about $149 million.

Ernst & Young Plaza includes a 914,000-square-foot office building that is about 90% occupied and a multilevel, 330,000-square-foot shopping mall that is about 70% occupied, said Trizec spokesman Rick Matthews.

It was the first transaction since Trizec, formerly Toronto-based TrizecHahn Corp., became a publicly traded U.S. real estate investment trust last month.

“Our portfolio strategy calls for continued investment in our primary markets, while reducing ownership in secondary markets,” said Michael Escalante, senior vice president of capital allocations and business development for Trizec. “Los Angeles is one of our key markets, and we are pleased to have added to our presence downtown.”

Trizec spent much of the last two years selling assets that are not related to its main business of owning U.S. office buildings. Nationwide, Trizec owns or manages nearly 50 million square feet of space. In the Los Angeles area, Trizec’s portfolio totals nearly 3 million square feet, with properties in downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and other locations.