Trizec Properties, Inc., previously known as TrizecHahn Corporation, was a real estate investment trust headquartered in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It was originally a Canadian company. The name is derived from the initials of the three groups (Tri) that formed Trizec Properties Ltd: Zeckendorf, Eagle Star, and Covent Gardens. In 1994, it was acquired by

Peter Munk Peter Munk (November 8, 1927 – March 28, 2018) was a Hungarian-Canadian businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of a number of high-profile business ventures, including the hi-fi electronics co ...

and in October 2006, it was acquired by

Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...

and

The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate bu ...

History

Trizec was founded in 1960 by

William Zeckendorf William Zeckendorf Sr. (June 30, 1905 – September 30, 1976) was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp — for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 — he developed a ...

with British associates recapitalize the

Place Ville Marie Place Ville Marie (PVM for short) is a large office and shopping complex skyscraper in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza. It serves as the main and official headquarters for Ro ...

development in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. In the 1970s, the Toronto branch of the Bronfman family acquired a 50.1% controlling interest in Trizec through its holding company,

Edper Investments Edper Investments Ltd. was the primary holding company and investment vehicle for brothers Edward Bronfman and Peter Bronfman between 1959 and 1995. At its peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, Edper was one of the largest corporate conglomerates in C ...

. The Bronfmans were also owners of Carena Properties, successor to the Canadian Arena Company. In the 1980s, Trizec acquired

The Hahn Company The Hahn Company, San Diego, California, alternately known as Ernest W. Hahn, Inc., was a major American shopping center owner and developer from the 1950s to the 1980s. Purchased by the Trizec Corp. in 1980 (which then took the name TrizecHahn), ...

. In 1984, Trizec acquired a controlling interest in Toronto-based property developer Bramalea Ltd. After adding $5 billion in debt to finance rapid expansion during the 1980s property boom, Bramalea collapsed in the early 1990s, and in 1995, its U.S. subsidiary went bankrupt in the largest bankruptcy of a U.S. house developer. With restructuring of Trizec, Edper's equity was reduced to a nominal amount. In 1994, Trizec Corporation was acquired by

's Horsham Corporation. It moved its headquarters from Calgary to Toronto. Horsham Corporation and Trizec Corporation were amalgamated in 1996 to form TrizecHahn Corporation. In 1997, it acquired a controlling interest in the Sears Tower (now the

Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...

) in Chicago for $70 million with payment of an additional $40 million for a garage next door. It also acquired a portfolio of assets from The JBG Companies for $560 million. In November 1998, the company sold a portfolio of

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s, including Westfield Santa Anita to

Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...

for $1.4 billion. In 1999, the company acquired

1 New York Plaza 1 New York Plaza is an office building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of South and Whitehall Streets near South Ferry. The building, measuring tall with 50 floors, is the southernmost skyscraper in ...

for $390 million from Chase Manhattan Bank. By early 2000, 80% of TrizecHahn's revenues was from the United States and the company moved its headquarters to Chicago and sold all holdings it held in Canada, changing its name to Trizec. In 2001, it sold noncore assets for $417 million. In April 2002, the company received permission to convert to a public real estate investment trust. In November 2002, after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, the company wrote down two-thirds of the $70 million investment it made in 1997 to gain control of the Sears Tower. In February 2004, the company sold its interest in

Hollywood & Highland Ovation Hollywood (formerly Hollywood & Highland) is a shopping center and entertainment complex in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, United States. Located at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, the s ...

to CIM Group for $200 million. In May 2006, the company acquired 13 office properties in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

from Arden Realty for $1.63 billion. In October 2006,

and

acquired the company for $8.9 billion.

Headquarters locations

When it was Canada-based, the headquarters in the early 1970s were in

in Montreal, Quebec. After a first move to Calgary, Alberta in 1976 by then company President Harold Milavsky, the headquarters were moved again to

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1995, where the headquarters were in the BCE Place. In 2004, the company was headquartered at Suite 4600 of the

in the Chicago Loop. It later moved to the Near West Side.

References

{{Authority control 1923 establishments in Quebec 2006 disestablishments in Illinois Canadian companies established in 1923 Companies disestablished in 2006 Defunct companies based in Chicago Defunct real estate companies of the United States Real estate companies established in 1923 The Blackstone Group companies