United Partners invests $62 mn in Dallas office building mortgage

South Korea-based United Partners Asset Management Co. Ltd. has invested about 70 billion won ($62 million) in a senior debt on a three-building office complex in the Dallas metropolitan area in Texas, diversifying its equity-focused real estate portfolios.

The loan is part of the 250 billion won mortgage originated by UBS on The Colonnade in Addison, north of Dallas, which represents 64% of the property’s market value of 390 billion won, according to sources involved in the matter on Feb. 12.

United Partners, launched in 2017, made the investment on behalf of three-odd South Korean institutional investors.

The five-year loan is expected to yield 6.56% in dollar terms.

The office complex consists of 12, 14 and 16-story connected towers with a floor space of 99,173 km, and is almost fully occupied.

Tenants include Hilton Hotel and insurance companies.

Dallas is among popular second-tier cities in the US, with solid economic growth and affordable housing.

The Dallas metro area saw the fastest population growth in the US in 2017, with a combined population of 7.4 million, according to the US Census Bureau.

Office rents in the area have been on the steady rise, with the vacancy rate of class-A office buildings running below 10%, the sources added.

Previously, United Partners' real estate portfolios had been tilted to equity investments, investing 77 billion won in a KPMG-leased building in Belgium; 71.5 billion won in a Frankfurt-based office tower; 23 billion won in land in Chiba, Tokyo; and 13 billion won in GLP's euro area portfolio fund.

By Daehun Kim

daepun@hankyung.com