New Buyer Emerges for Figueroa Plaza

Insignia Commercial Group has replaced Starwood Capital Group and developer Raffi Cohen as the buyer of the 615,000-square-foot Figueroa Plaza, according to people familiar with the deal. Lexington Commercial Holdings, which owns the office complex at the edge of downtown Los Angeles, had agreed earlier this year to sell Figueroa Plaza to a partnership formed by Starwood and Cohen based on their $77-million bid. The reasons why Insignia replaced the Starwood-Cohen team as the buyer could not be determined. The sale of the two-building office complex, which is almost fully occupied, is expected to be completed in early April. Cohen built the complex but lost ownership after vacancy rates soared and rents plunged in the downtown office market.