Ex-Pacific Savings Building Expected to Be Sold This Week
The sale of the stylish former headquarters of defunct Pacific Savings Bank to a Los Angeles businessman is expected to be completed this week, sources said.
The purchase price--estimated at $10 million to $13 million--is about half the $21.5 million that it cost to build the three-story, Spanish-colonial building, which became the cornerstone for the area’s redevelopment nine years ago. The building, with its distinctive bell tower, has been appraised at $16.5 million.
The Resolution Trust Corp., the federal agency that manages and liquidates failed thrifts, is selling the property to Nickolas N. Shammas, who owns seven automobile dealerships and dozens of properties in downtown Los Angeles and in Orange County.
The RTC’s Coastal Consolidated Office, the agency’s largest sales and asset management office in the nation, currently occupies nearly all of the structure. But it plans to move to new Koll Co. quarters in Newport Beach by the end of the year.
Shammas plans to refurbish the building and lease the ground floor to retail and commercial tenants. The top two stories would continue to be office space. The building, at Newport Boulevard and 19th Street, sits on 7.7 acres. About 3.5 acres are available for further development.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
