Newmark Facilitates $80 Million Sale of Iconic Downtown Los Angeles Office Tower

October 1, 2024 9:00 AM

Newmark[1] announces it has arranged the sale of a newly renovated mixed-use 40-story urban campus at 445 South Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Historically known as "Union Bank Plaza," the property, which includes a 674,731-square-foot office tower and 27,157 square feet of street-level retail space, sold for $80 million.

Newmark Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Vice Chairmen Ken White, Rob Hannan, Laura Stumm and Michael Moll, Executive Managing Director Bill Bloodgood, Senior Managing Director Chris Benton and Managing Director Anthony Muhlstein, as well as Co-President of Global Debt & Structured Finance Jonathan Firestone represented the seller, W/B Union Plaza Holdings, LLC. Newmark also represented Washington Capital Management, which acted on behalf of their client the Southwest Carpenters Pension Trust who intends to occupy a portion of the building and stabilize the balance of the building via lease-up.

"This was a win-win transaction for the buyer and seller," Shannon said. "The buyer acquired an institutionally renovated office tower at approximately $100 per square foot, factoring in the value of the substantial adjacent development parcel that provides future upside potential. The buyer will also occupy a significant portion of the building, effectively fixing their long-term operating costs. This is a massive discount to replacement cost and peak pricing of approximately $500 per square foot. The seller also received a substantial return, given the greatly reduced cost basis due to the Union Bank lease buyout."

W/B Union Plaza Holdings, LLC purchased Union Bank Plaza from KBS in March 2022 for $110.5 million, in a deal also brokered by Newmark, but reduced its basis substantially after receiving a large lease termination payout from Union Bank after the company merged with US Bank and relocated to US Bank Tower.

Prominently perched adjacent to Los Angeles' 110 Freeway, the tower is situated on one of the largest parcels in Downtown Los Angeles, spanning a full city block across 3.6 acres, and offers building-top signage visible to over 300,000 cars per day. The property recently underwent nearly $65 million of renovations, which included upgrades to the lobby, courtyard, conference center and plaza, along with overall building and tenant improvements.

About Newmark
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries ("Newmark"), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark's comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform's global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. For the year ended December 31, 2023, Newmark generated revenues of approximately $2.5 billion. As of June 30, 2024, Newmark's company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with 7,800 professionals around the world. To learn more, visit nmrk.com or follow @newmark.

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[1] Dba Newmark Knight Frank in California