Law firms sign large office leases in Los Angeles
Two large law firms have agreed to long-term office leases – one in downtown Los Angeles and one in Century City.
Greenberg Traurig will move from Santa Monica to Century City in April and Alston & Bird has agreed to a long-term lease in a skyscraper on downtown’s Bunker Hill.
Miami-based Greenberg Traurig will rent 70,000 square feet in four floors including the penthouse at 1840 Century Park East, according to real estate brokerage CBRE Group Inc.
The 19th floor penthouse will have a “sky lobby” and conference center that will hold approximately 100 people, said Matt Gorson, president of the law firm.
“We believe the new office will foster a collaborative work environment,” he said.
Terms of the 15-year deal with landlord California State Teachers Retirement System were not announced, but property experts familiar with Westside rents valued it at about $44 million.
Downtown is another top location for law firms and one of its most prominent buildings is Bank of America Plaza, where Alston & Bird has changed its status from subtenant to tenant and expanded slightly to 80,000 square feet on three floors, according to landlord Brookfield Office Properties Inc.
Atlanta-based Alston & Bird is working on a major renovations of its offices, where the firm has been for more than a decade, said Thomas J. Wingard, managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office.
Terms of the lease were not released, but real estate experts familiar with the downtown market valued it at about $30 million.
Bank of America Plaza, a 55-story tower at 333 S. Hope St. with more than 1.5 million square feet of office space, is 96% leased, said John Barganski of Brookfield.
Overall vacancy in downtown Los Angeles, now at about 19%, will increase this year as some companies reduce their office space, predicted real estate broker Tony Morales of Jones Lang LaSalle, who represented Alston & Bird.
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