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An Australian investment group has made its first U.S. real estate acquisition with the purchase of two buildings in Southwest
Austin's Las Cimas office project.
Sources say Challenger International Ltd. paid about $63 million for Las Cimas II and Las Cimas III last month, or a little less than $205 per square foot.
"It is [Challenger's] first foray into the American market," says Sheridan Lee, a spokeswoman at Challenger's headquarters in Sydney.
"It is hopefully going to be one of a raft of properties," Lee says. "Austin was chosen because of its standing in terms of other Texas cities. Quite a lot of market research had been done on Austin, and it came out ahead."
The Las Cimas buildings are on Las Cimas Parkway, which extends westward from a traffic light on Loop 360 one block south of Bee Caves Road. Las Cimas II and III measure about 160,000 square feet each.
The sale didn't include Las...