COMMERCIAL SCENE : L.A.'s Tallest Building Opens 80% Pre-Leased : Offices: Arthur Andersen & Co. welcomed as first tenant in completed 73-story First Interstate World Center.

COMMERCIAL SCENE : L.A.’s Tallest Building Opens 80% Pre-Leased : Offices: Arthur Andersen & Co. welcomed as first tenant in completed 73-story First Interstate World Center.

By RON GALPERIN

Nov. 26, 1989 12 AM PT

<i> Galperin is a Los Angeles-based free-lance writer who has covered the commercial real estate scene for several years</i>

First Interstate World Center in downtown Los Angeles opened last week with Arthur Andersen & Co. as its first tenant--marking completion of the tallest tower in the western United States.

The $350-million project boasts 73 stories and about 1.5 million square feet. An astounding 80% has been pre-leased, with tenants such as First Interstate Bancorp, law firm Latham & Watkins, Pacific Enterprises and Arthur Andersen taking the lion’s share.

Los Angeles-based Maguire Thomas Partners is the developer in a joint venture with Pacific Enterprises--parent to the Southern California Gas Co.

Located at 633 W. 5th Street, First Interstate World Center is just a few blocks from the 62-story First Interstate Tower and directly across the street from the Los Angeles Central Library. The newest addition to L.A.’s skyline--along with a sister project, the 52-story Gas Company Center--will provide $125 million in financing for the library’s expansion and restoration.

The project will also connect Bunker Hill and 5th Street with a water-garden stairway. These public benefits, as they are referred to, are being furnished by the developer in exchange for the city’s sale of air rights necessary to allow the construction of so tall a tower.

Design for the building was conceived and executed by Harold Fredenburgh Architects and Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners--both of New York. Bunker Hill Steps--still under construction--are the work of Lawrence Halprin of San Francisco. And Ellerbe Becket Inc. of Santa Monica is on record as executive architect.

Arthur Andersen and affilitate Anderson Consulting are relocating more than 1,000 employees to 200,000 square feet of leased space at first Interstate World Center. The accounting/consulting group describes its new Southern California headquarters as “transitional” in style with interior design by Cole Martinez Curtis & Associates and tenant improvement work by general contractor Turner Construction and Cal-Pac Construction Inc., both of Los Angeles.

Maguire Thomas has as its asset manager for the First Interstate World Center a former hotelier who plans to run the tower like a resort. Uniformed personnel have been trained to acquaint themselves with important tenants by name and arrange for such basic office services as massages, automobile detailing, shopping tours and theater reservations. The list of other concierge services, says the developer, is almost endless.