Brookfield Divests Boston Assets

Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (BPO">BPO) recently announced that it has sold certain assets situated in 53 State Street in Boston, Massachusetts for $610 million. The company has sold $682 million of net assets over the last one year.

Brookfield continues to reposition its portfolio by divesting non-strategic assets and reinvesting the same amount of capital in new accretive opportunities.

The company primarily focuses on managing and developing premier properties in high-growth, markets with high barriers to entry along with executing long-term leases with strong tenants.

Brookfield reported third quarter 2011 funds from operations (FFO) of $168 million or 30 cents per share compared with $169 million or 32 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Fund from operations, a widely used metric to gage the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and other non-cash expenses to net income.

Based in New York, Brookfield is a publicly owned real estate investment firm. The company owns, develops and manages premier office properties in the United States, Canada and Australia. It also provides ancillary real estate service businesses, such as tenant service and amenities. The company mainly invests in high growth and high-barrier-to-entry markets with primary focus on the creation and sustainability of growing streams of cash flow.

Brookfield currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating. We are also maintaining our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock. One of its competitors, Core Site Realty Corporation (COR">COR), currently holds a Zacks #1 Rank, which translates into a short-term Strong Buy rating.