Real estate investment management services provider AEW Capital Management (AEW) has agreed to purchase The Dongyeouido Building in Seoul, South Korea for US$53 million from Samsung Life Insurance. This is AEW’s second acquisition in Seoul, following its $180 million purchase of City Center Tower earlier this year.
The firm has acquired The Dongyeouido Building on behalf of AEW Value Investors Asia II, LP; the second in AEW’s series of value-added funds focussed on property investment in Asia’s gateway markets.
“Our goal is to reposition this asset through our capital improvement program to capture the strong tenancy demand in the market. We will be converting the lower three floors to an attractive F&B retail podium to capture the strong demand from the growing population of office workers nearby,” said David Schaefer, managing director at AEW and portfolio manager for the AEW Value Investors Asia Funds.
The Dongyeouido Building is a 157,393-square-foot, 14-story, Grade B office building with three levels of underground parking located in Seoul’s Yeouido Business District directly across from the International Finance Center (IFC). Since the addition of the IFC complex in Seoul in 2012, the area has become a very prominent “corner” with a lot of pedestrian traffic. The location also offers direct access to the city’s subway system.
AEW provides real estate investment management services to investors worldwide. The company and its affiliates were managing over $48.9 billion of property and securities in North America, Europe and Asia as of June 30 this year.
