Security Benefit Fuels Commercial Real Estate Joint Venture

By Allison Bell

News September 11, 2019 at 11:55 PM

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Security Benefit Life Insurance Company is working with Kennedy Wilson Holdings Inc., a real estate investment company, to invest in income-producing real estate in the western United States, Kennedy Wilson said today.

A new Security Benefit-Kennedy Wilson joint venture has started by acquiring Sunset North, an office park in Bellevue, Washington, for $227 million. The office park has about 464,000 square feet in space.

Kennedy Wilson is a Beverly Hills, California-based company with properties in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as in the western United States.

Security Benefit is a Topeka, Kansas-based life insurer with about $40 billion in assets under management. Eldridge Industries LLC acquired the company from Guggenheim Partners in 2015.

Security Benefit has already been investing in real estate through Kennedy Wilson, through other arrangements, since 2015, Kennedy Wilson said.

The companies expect the new joint venture to start by investing a total of $500 million.

The amount invested could grow over time, according to Kennedy Wilson.

Kennedy Wilson will own a 20% stake in the investments of the new joint venture.

For the Sunset North deal, the joint venture invested $77 million of equity. About $15 million came from Kennedy Wilson. The companies also a used a 10-year, fixed-rate, interest-only loan for $150 million, with an interest rate of 3.25%.

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