Oaktree Capital agrees to expand offices in downtown Los Angeles

Oaktree Capital Management, a large downtown Los Angeles investment firm, has agreed to expand its offices on Bunker Hill in a major rental transaction.

In one of the biggest office leases of the year in downtown L.A., Oaktree renewed its right to occupy six floors of Wells Fargo Center’s North Tower and agreed to rent an additional floor for a total of seven floors.

The expansion is a departure from typical renewals in downtown high-rises in the last few years. Since the recession, big firms have commonly taken less space instead of more when their leases came up for renewal.

The deal announced by landlord Brookfield Property Partners raised Oaktree’s total office space by 26,000 square feet to 182,000 square feet. Terms of the lease were not released, but property experts familiar with the downtown market say Brookfield has been asking for about $27 per square foot per year for space in that building at 333 S. Grand Ave.

“Oaktree has been headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles since our founding,” Chief Financial Officer David Kirchheimer said in a statement. “After a thorough analysis, we determined that staying at Wells Fargo Center will best facilitate our further growth and success.”

Brookfield has secured more than 700,000 square feet of new and renewal deals across its Los Angeles portfolio in 2014, the company said. Most of its L.A. properties are downtown, where Brookfield is the largest office landlord.

It’s downtown holdings are: Bank of America Plaza at 333 S. Hope St.; Wells Fargo Center at 333/335 South Grand Ave.; Figueroa at Wilshire at 601 S. Figueroa St.; Ernst & Young Plaza at 725 S. Figueroa St.; the Gas Company Tower at 555 W. 5th St.; and 777 Tower at 777 S. Figueroa St.

Twitter: @rogervincent