LaSalle makes first purchase for Paris fund

LaSalle Investment Management has made the first acquisition for its 2008 value-added LaSalle Paris Office Ventures fund.

The Chicago-based firm said it bought Le Blériot office for close to €100 million ($148 million) from UK insurance company Standard Life Investments. The 21,500 square-metre property was built in 2005 and is located in the Suresnes area of Paris.

Andy Watson, international director, LaSalle Investment Management, said: “For over two years we have showed discipline in waiting for prices to adjust before investing capital in the (Paris) fund.  This is the first French acquisition we’ve made in the last ten months and reflects our belief that when the fundamentals are right, now is the right time to reenter the market.”

LaSalle’s recent E-REGI annual commercial property index suggested that Paris continued to have “sustained growth prospects”, due in part to its high wealth levels and also its position as a major hub of French administrative, economic and financial activity. It believes that the local economy in Paris is more resilient to the downturn than other major European locations.