Duke unloads office buildings for $150M, report says

Duke Realty Corp. has sold six office buildings in the Cincinnati area for more than $150 million as part of its strategy to shift its holdings toward the industrial sector.

The Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust recently sold the six buildings to international real estate firm Hines Interests LP, according to a report in the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Buildings included in the sale were the 403,000-square-foot Towers of Kenwood office development, which sold to an affiliate of Hines, Suburban Cincinnati Office Portfolio LLC, for $69.2 million, according to a Courier check of county property records.

Five office buildings in Centre Pointe Office Park sold to the same affiliate for $81.25 million, according to the property records.

The buildings were part of a 17-property portfolio Duke put on the market in 2013. The properties were valued at about $149 a square foot, according to research firm Real Capital Analytics Inc. That would give the portfolio a total value of about $350 million.

At the time, the company was unloading office and retail properties as part of its strategy to shift its property mix to 60 percent industrial, 25 percent suburban office and 15 percent medical office by the end of 2013.

In late 2013, Duke CEO Dennis Oklak told the website REIT.com that Duke was close to its goal for repositioning its portfolio. “We’re essentially there,” he said.

Contacted by IBJ on Tuesday, a Duke spokeswoman declined to comment on the deal, saying that any acquisitions would be announced with the firm’s quarterly earnings report at the end of the month. Officials with Hines did not immediately respond to questions from IBJ on Tuesday.