Koramco REITs & Trust said Thursday that it has been selected as the preferred bidder to buy an eco-friendly office building in eastern Seoul through its new blind pool fund.

The investment target, East Central Tower, is a 42-story building with six underground floors and 100,422 square meters of gross floor space. The 4-year-old building houses tenants including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Construction & Trading, Samsung Medison and Fila Holdings.

The prime office building has employed a system to cut carbon emissions by using new and renewable energy resources to generate power, according to Koramco.

“Koramco has standardized its internal green smart building indicator since 2012 and integrated its eco-friendly policy into investment and asset management,” said Kim Chull-kyu, managing director of Koramco REITs & Trust.

“We have taken into account not only the intrinsic value of the commercial properties but also environmental and social value for the future generation in our investment decision.”

East Central Tower will become the first portfolio asset of Koramco REITs’ blind pool fund with a 300 billion won ($269.1 million) mandate created in January. The transaction is expected to close in July.

Koramco added that it would take steps to register the asset for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the US Green Building Council Leadership.

Koramco manages five blind pool funds for commercial real estate investment. The latest one is expected to exercise “core” and “value-added” strategies, meaning the company will accept low- to midlevel risks and target a 7 percent annual internal rate of return.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)