Angelo, Gordon & Co. puts Metro Tower up for sale

[THE INVESTOR] Metro Tower, the former headquarters of GS Engineering & Construction, has been put on the selling block.

Metro Tower -- wholly owned by US-based investment advisory firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. -- has chosen Samjung KPMG as the lead manager, according to real estate sources on Sept.2.

Angelo, Gordon & Co. has also put up its Digitial Dream Tower, located in northern Seoul, for sale. 

Metro Tower is located in Jung-gu, downtown Seoul. Its spans a total of 39,908 square meters. It is currently rented out to companies such as Allianz Life Insurance, Lotte Fire and Marine Insurance, and some divisions of the Finance Ministry. The occupancy rate is 85 percent. Angelo, Gordon & Co. plans to push it up to 95 percent by the end of this year.

In 2013, the investment advisory company acquired Metro Tower from GS E&C, which was forced to make a speedy relocation to Gran Seoul, a building also located in downtown Seoul the construction company had built at the time. The tower was sold for a considerably low price of 16 million won (US$14,307) per 3.3 square meters.

It is now expected to fetch around 22-23 million won per 3.3 square meters, according to industry sources.

Digital Dream Tower, meanwhile, spans 38,076 square meters. It is currently rented out to a number of stable tenants, such as CJ HelloVision and cable TV operator Daewon Broadcasting. Both have long-term lease contracts; CJ has a 20-year contract, and Daewon a 30-year contract.

Angelo, Gordon & Co. owns a 60 percent stake in Digital Dream Tower, which it purchased for 8 million won per 3.3 square meters. The building is now expected to fetch up to 13 million won per 3.3 square meters.

The two buildings may be sold separately, or as a package, sources said, adding that the US firm is expected to select a preferred bidder during the latter half of this year with the aim of completing the sale by the first half of 2017.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)