JMB Realty Lands $575M Loan for L.A. Office Tower
By Nick Trombola April 2, 2024 3:42 pm
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JMB Realty has secured the funding it needs to build its massive 37-story office tower in Los Angeles’ top office market despite recent office trends in Southern California.
The Chicago-based investment firm clinched a $575 million construction loan from an affiliate of U.K.-based Cale Street Partners for its 730,00-square-foot development at 1950 Avenue of the Stars, dubbed Century City Center. News of the financing was first reported by The Real Deal.
TRD reported that Cale Street, which is backed by the Kuwait Investment Office, was the lead lender on the financing, though the other lenders were not named.
Most of JMB’s tower in L.A.’s Century City district is already pre-leased to talent agency CAA, which is taking a whopping 400,000 square feet. JMB also signed a 150,000-square-foot lease for the top eight floors with private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group and a 75,000-square-foot deal with law firm Sidley Austin.
The tower, designed by Johnson Fain, is expected to be completed in 2026.
JMB had difficulty finding a lender for the office tower until linking up with Cale Street, according to TRD. There’s little wonder why. Leasing volume in L.A. in the fourth quarter of last year was 26 percent lower than it was the previous year, which was already down 15 percent from the year before that, according to a January report by Savills.
Still, Century City has been a bright spot for an otherwise troubled market. Flight to quality has driven tenants to luxury markets such as Century City, and many firms are moving there from other parts of L.A. BlakeHostetler, for example, is leaving its space in West L.A. for 40,000 square feet at 1900 Avenue of the Stars.
Representatives from JMB and Cale Street did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Nick Trombola can be reached at NTrombola@commercialobserver.com.
