Downtown L.A.’s Union Bank Plaza Sells for $80M
Southwest Carpenters Pension Trust plans to use a large portion of the landmark 40-story tower
By Nick Trombola October 1, 2024 6:42 pm
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Another prominent Downtown Los Angeles office tower is selling at a hefty discount.
Washington Capital Management, on behalf of the Southwest Carpenters Pension Trust, has acquired the 40-story, 701,888-square-foot Union Bank Plaza from Joel Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital for the relative bargain of $80 million, or almost $114 per square foot.
Waterbridge purchased the building at 445 South Figueroa Street from KBS in early 2023 for $110.5 million, which itself was already a massive discount from the $208 million KBS paid for it in 2010. Waterbridge’s 2023 purchase price was later offset by receiving a “large lease termination payout” from Union Bank, the tower’s namesake tenant, according to Newmark (NMRK), who brokered both Waterbridge’s purchase of the building and the most recent deal.
Newmark’s Kevin Shannon, Ken White, Rob Hannan, Laura Stumm, Michael Moll, Bill Bloodgood, Chris Benton, Anthony Muhlstein and Jonathan Firestone represented the seller. Newmark also represented the buyer in the deal.
“This was a win-win transaction for the buyer and seller,” Shannon said in a statement. “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.”
This story will be updated.
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
