LMU to Take Over Hughes Headquarters
Loyola Marymount University will take over the long-vacant Westchester office building originally developed as the former Hughes Aircraft Co.’s world headquarters.
The Roman Catholic university--whose campus is a stone’s throw from the property commonly known as Hughes World Headquarters--is taking control of the striking hillside facility through a series of transactions valued at about $75 million.
The university has purchased the land under the building. LMU is also subleasing the office building from Raytheon Co., which acquired the Hughes Aircraft operation in 1997. The school plans to convert the facility into an academic center that will include a relocated College of Liberal Arts, classrooms, and faculty and administrative offices, LMU spokesman Norm Schneider said.
LMU is financing the transactions with a $60-million bond issue through the California Education Finance Authority and other fund-raising efforts. A team of Cushman & Wakefield agents, led by Mike Sidney and Steve Silk, brokered the sale.
The high-profile facility completed in the mid-1980s is tucked into the Westchester Bluffs off Lincoln Boulevard, overlooking the massive Playa Vista planned community just getting underway below. LMU will add a pedestrian walkway linking the property to the main campus farther up the hill.
Schneider noted that occupancy of the Hughes building, beginning in phases this summer, will free up much-needed space on campus. Various on-campus construction projects will also alleviate crowding, he added.
In addition to about 550,000 square feet of usable office space and underground parking for 1,150 vehicles, the hillside property includes an auditorium, cafeteria, fitness center and heliport. The Skidmore Owings & Merrill-designed building is known for its four-level atrium that connects the ground floor to upper levels by way of six pairs of escalators.
Local real estate sources estimate it would probably cost more than $120 million to duplicate the facility. And they agree that LMU is an appropriate new owner, given the building’s configuration.
Despite the generally strong demand for quality Westside office space, the facility has limited commercial appeal simply because it was designed for a single user rather than multiple tenants, said broker Steve Solomon of Seeley Co. Converting it for multi-tenant use would probably require substantial additional investment.
