It was nearly 10 years ago when Hines, an office developer, teamed with apartment specialist Archstone to win a bid to redevelop the District’s old convention center into a mixed-use project. The partnership endured the economic collapse and housing bust, and the first phase of the project, CityCenterDC, is now under construction.
Last year, however, Hines, a privately owned real estate firm based in Houston, watched as two other apartment firms, Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities (based in Arlington) negotiated a deal to buy Archstone. The deal, which closed Wednesday, gives Equity 60 percent of Colorado-based Archstone and AvalonBay 40 percent, but it potentially left Hines without its longtime partner in the CityCenter DC project.
So Hines decided to buy its partner out, announcing Thursday that it had acquired Archstone’s interest in CityCenterDC as part of the larger Archstone sale.
“In addition to increasing its incremental ownership in the overall mixed-use project, Hines will assume development responsibility for the two large apartment buildings comprising 458 units in the center of CityCenterDC,” Hines said in a news release. It did not disclose the price.
Hines is not only an office developer, and the deal signals an increasing interest on the company’s part in apartment development. Hines opened its multifamily development practice in early 2011 and says it now has 5,500 units in development in 12 cities.
Follow Jonathan O’Connell on Twitter: @oconnellpostbiz
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