Rolling Stone and Variety Publisher Penske Media Signs Big Office Expansion in LA
The 12-year deal is for around 125,000 square feet at the newly redeveloped Lumen campus.
By Greg Cornfield September 20, 2023 5:20 pm
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In the darkness of office real estate, there is light.
Penske Media Corporation (PMC) — which owns and operates major publications such as Variety, Rolling Stone and The Hollywood Reporter — signed a new lease to expand and relocate its Los Angeles headquarters to a new office on the Westside, Commercial Observer has learned.
The Jay Penske-run company agreed to a 12-year deal for about 125,000 square feet at the newly redeveloped Lumen office with landlords and owners McCarthy Cook and Northwood Investors, according to sources familiar with the deal. PMC did not return requests for comment.
This fall, about 600 Penske employees will move into the shimmering glass-like structure that’s aptly named after the unit of measurement for the amount of light emitted per second. The company will join production company Fifth Season (formerly known as Endeavor Content), which signed a 12-year, 65,000 square-foot lease at Lumen for its 250 employees in March.
Lumen is a 550,000-square-foot Class A office property designed to attract L.A.’s tech and entertainment firms back to the office.
The 3.6-acre property is at 11355 West Olympic Boulevard, adjacent to Interstate 405 and Sawtelle Japantown. The Lumen campus features 1.5 acres of private outdoor event space, a training gym, sport courts, chef gardens and 15,000 square feet of restaurant space. PMC will also equip a ground-floor screening room and on-site production facilities, which will be available for other tenants.
PMC is currently located about one mile north at 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard (pictured left), which has been known as the Variety Building because of the publication’s logo along the top. NG Investments acquired it in March.
Penske’s new deal will surely be a highlight for the region amid a relatively quiet quarter, and one of the biggest office leases of the year. For reference, when Verve Talent & Literary Agency signed a lease this August for 53,000 square feet in Hollywood, owner Lincoln Property Company said it was one of the largest office leases in L.A. this year.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
