LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0

[craigs]

Los Angeles County agrees to buy downtown skyscraper

Roger Vincent, Rebecca Ellis
Los Angeles Times
August 1, 2024


Los Angeles County has agreed to buy the Gas Company Tower, center, one of the most prominent office skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles, for $215 million in a foreclosure sale. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The county of Los Angeles has tentatively agreed to buy the Gas Company Tower, a prominent office skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles, for $215 million in a foreclosure sale.

The price is a deep discount from its appraised value of $632 million in 2020, underscoring how much downtown office values have fallen in recent years.

The Board of Supervisors must still approve the deal, which county real estate officials quietly but aggressively negotiated. If completed, the purchase could move workers and public services out of existing county offices, including the well-known Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, which dates to 1960, according to multiple people familiar with the transaction who requested they not be named in order to discuss the confidential negotiations.

The county has begun the due diligence process of examining the property for possible structural problems or other issues before finalizing the transaction, which could take two to three months to complete, the sources said.

In a statement to The Times, the county said that it had submitted a nonbinding “letter of interest” for the tower.

“Because we are seeing once-in-a-generation price reductions for commercial real estate in the downtown area, as responsible stewards of public funds, the County is doing its due diligence and evaluating the possibility of acquiring property in the Civic Center area, such as the Gas Company Tower,” the statement said.
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[craigs]

I had been wondering how tall Olympic + Hill would look from certain angles, especially in relation to 820 Olive. Here's a show from LA Reddit giving us a clue:

[BrandonJXN]

Would it be a bad thing for more civic employees and services move into the unused office spaces in downtown? There's a lot of room apparently.

[Blesha13]

Originally Posted by craigs

I had been wondering how tall Olympic + Hill would look from certain angles, especially in relation to 820 Olive. Here's a show from LA Reddit giving us a clue:

I just like how the skyline is divided into 3:

1. Anything between Union Bank and 777 Tower (entertainment)
2. TCW to Deloitte (offices)
3. Oceanwide to Olympic + Hill (residential)

Literally work, play, live

[SoCalKid]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

Would it be a bad thing for more civic employees and services move into the unused office spaces in downtown? There's a lot of room apparently.

I think it's a great thing. This is the County government being smart with our money for once. I'd much rather them buy a nice existing tower for ~$125/sf than spend $1,000/sf+ on a new office building like they did in Koreatown.

Plus, maybe they will now demolish Stanley Hahn Hall of Administration and expand Grand Park!

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by SoCalKid

I think it's a great thing. This is the County government being smart with our money for once. I'd much rather them buy a nice existing tower for ~$125/sf than spend $1,000/sf+ on a new office building like they did in Koreatown.

Plus, maybe they will now demolish Stanley Hahn Hall of Administration and expand Grand Park!

Exactly! My hope is that the building on the eastern side is turned into some kind of hybrid of Grand Central market, Chelsea market and the ferry building and opens into the park and the Western building is torn down and the park expanded to the street.