JANE LLOYD, DEXUS Property Group Managing Director, U.S. Investments DEXUS has a long history with Colliers International in Australia; we’ve built a strong partnership with them. Our partnership approach with agencies, tenant representatives and our corporate and capital partners is crucial to delivering superior results. Clearly, our aim in entering the U.S. market is to replicate the success of DEXUS in Australia and to have sustainable competitive advantage in our four key markets: SeattleTacoma, the I-880 corridor in San Francisco, the Port of Long Beach, and California’s Inland Empire in the fast-growing Riverside/ San Bernardino area. At one time, our U.S. portfolio—which we began acquiring in 2004—had included 21 markets, with 109 industrial properties totaling more than 27 million square feet and valued at $1.1 billion. In 2009, we began scaling that portfolio back to the 15 markets we have today. We redeployed our investments in the Midwest and on the East Coast so that we could focus on West Coast opportunities, specializing in business parks, logistics and distribution facilities. We’re seeing strong demand associated with the major ports of the West Coast as well as major industrialized areas. We’re focused on finding good opportunities in those markets and we have great teams with good, strong local market knowledge and great relationships—like our relationship with Colliers International— to source and close deals. DEXUS’s objective in the U.S. is to become a West Coast market leader in industrial real estate, so we are taking a rigorous and strategic approach to leasing. After closing out other U.S. investments, we will have approximately $600 million to invest in West Coast markets in the next few years. In Toronto, for example, we had only one property, so we contacted the Colliers International team there—Jim McIntosh and Bill Pitt—and told them we thought it was time to realize the value out of that asset to take advantage of other market opportunities. It was a great timing play and a very smart $78 million deal for us. knowledge-leader.com
DEXUS’s U.S. portfolio includes this industrial property located northeast of the I-10 and I-15 interchange in Riverside, Calif.
When we opened our office in Newport Beach, Calif., in June 2010, we knew that to succeed in a new market you had to have strong local market knowledge and a well-respected team. So we hired the experienced team of Master Development Co. (MDC). MDC had previously enjoyed a long and successful working relationship with the Colliers International team of Tom Taylor, Steve Bellitti and Josh Hayes, brokers based in Ontario, Calif. The eight team members of the MDC group form the nucleus of our present 21-person DEXUS team on the West Coast, all of whom are high-caliber real estate professionals. We were very keen to work with local experts. Malcom Tyson has worked closely with us on a number of leasing and asset transactions over the years in Australia. He’s very customerfocused and is always working to do the right thing for the best interest of his client. He has helped us with introductions and late last year, organized a presentation with a number of his colleagues. Following that, we closed a couple of great deals, including a 212,000-square-foot lease in Rancho Cucamonga. Malcom also took the initiative, flying over to visit our Southern California office. After listening to and discussing our plans for the
market, it was clear that he understood our business model and what we’re trying to achieve on the West Coast. There are three things about Malcom that stand out: he’s smart, knows the market inside and out, and is well-connected. The key thing about Colliers International in Australia and the U.S. is their level of professionalism. They are a large organization with a boutique view—which is obviously a valuable asset to bring to the table. The business backs up its strong brand and corporate presence with on-the-ground expertise and intelligence in each of their markets. That’s really crucial to driving value in our markets. They have been a great help recently in U.S. business. We have a global share registry. Although 60 percent of our investors are Australian, the remaining shares are split evenly between American and Asian investors. We’ve made an enormous amount of progress in building our business in the U.S. in just 12 months’ time. We started from a low profile in the U.S. but we had a strong brand in DEXUS, a strong balance sheet and great help from Colliers International. In that short space of time we’ve gone from “DEXUS who?” to people knowing who we are and understanding that we’re nimble and can close deals. K L Colliers international FALL 2011
|
27