Tower Owners Book $200-Million Refinancing

Taking advantage of lower interest rates, the owners of the 73-story Library Tower--the tallest building on the West Coast--have completed a $200-million refinancing of the downtown Los Angeles skyscraper.

The deal ranks as one of the largest single-property refinancings in several years, according to GMAC Commercial Mortgage, which teamed up with Goldman Sachs Mortgage Co. to finance the transaction.

The landmark structure at 5th and Hope streets was refinanced with a 10-year, fixed-rate loan at a rate below 7%, said Peggy Moretti, spokeswoman for Los Angeles-based Maguire Partners, which owns the building in partnership with other investors. The firm, which was one of the nation’s most active development companies in the 1980s and early 1990s, has refinanced more than $1 billion of debt on its properties. Maguire owns commercial projects in Pasadena, Glendale and Santa Monica and is involved in developing the giant Playa Vista property near Marina del Rey.

The 1.3-million-square-foot Library Tower, completed in 1990, is home to several high-powered legal and financial firms and once served as headquarters for the now-defunct First Interstate Bancorp. Accounting and consulting firm Arthur Andersen is close to re-leasing the 160,000-square-foot space it occupies for 10 more years, according to a broker familiar with the negotiations.

The building is almost 90% occupied, with rents averaging $1.50 a square foot a month, according to Realty Information Group.