[citywatch]

The 54th floor lounge inside the U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles (Photo courtesy of John Salangsang)


In some areas, the new look of U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles will feel more like hanging out in a hotel than an office building. The building's amenities include a newly renovated 54th floor with couches and lounge chairs, concierge service and different programming such as cooking classes and free business headshots

The building is currently 50% to 70% occupied Monday to Thursday, with Friday having the fewest people coming in. Tenants in the building can relax on a newly renovated 54th floor with couches and lounge chairs, stay warm in front of a fireplace, check out the various artworks from 8mm film cameras and projectors to vintage movie posters, or just marvel at downtown's skyline.

The amenities are all part of Silverstein Properties' $60 million "hoteling" of the iconic 1,000-foot U.S. Bank Tower, one of the tallest skyscrapers west of the Mississippi.

The high-end improvements highlight the cultural tug-of-war property owners face as employers — their tenants — grapple with bringing workers, who many have grown accustomed to working remotely, back to the drab office buildings.

According to access control company Kastle, which has tracked the number of people coming in and out of their more than 2,600 buildings nationwide, the Los Angeles metro area averaged a 48% occupancy rate ending March.
Before the pandemic, office occupancy in downtown Los Angeles was in the high 90s. During the height of the pandemic, it dropped to single digits.

The Downtown Center Business Improvement District's end of the 2022 year report found that office occupancy in downtown LA rose as high as 68%. However, total visitation still lags pre-pandemic numbers. In the fourth quarter of 2022, there were 3.4 million workplace visits. At the end of 2019, it was 5.4 million.

Griffin added that other office property owners will need to do something similar to attract and retain tenants. In November, the company signed five new companies to leases totaling 72,000 square feet. The building has a 50% to 70% occupancy rate, mostly Monday to Thursday, with Friday having the fewest people coming in, according to McQuillan.

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