Arco Tower to Become Paul Hastings Tower

After years of searching for a new home, Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker, one of Los Angeles’ largest law firms, said Thursday that it will keep its headquarters at Arco Plaza in downtown Los Angeles and put its name atop one of the property’s twin 52-story towers.

The skyscraper, which has been known as Arco Tower for nearly 30 years, will be renamed Paul Hastings Tower, and the firm’s logo will be placed atop the building at the southwest corner of 5th and Flower streets. The law firm plans to move about 500 employees into the building in July and occupy about 209,000 square feet of space.

The 15-year lease is valued at about $80 million, said real estate broker Lynn Williams of Cushman & Wakefield, who negotiated the transaction on behalf of the tenant.

The international law firm currently occupies about the same amount of space next door in Arco Plaza’s other skyscraper, Bank of America Tower, where it has been for about 30 years. Jumping to the adjacent building allows the firm to expand and gives it valuable visibility on the downtown skyline, said Patrick Ramsey, who is in charge of the firm’s facilities.

“The signage was one of the things that was attractive to us,” Ramsey said.

The Paul Hastings agreement is the second big lease at Arco Plaza this year. Architectural firm Daniel Mann Johnson & Mendenhall agreed in June to occupy 125,000 square feet in the same building. .

It is not known whether property owner Shuwa Investments Corp. will change the name of Arco Plaza, which also includes a large underground shopping center.

Shuwa officials could not be reached for comment.

Arco Tower served for many years as headquarters for the energy company of the same name. Arco was acquired last year by BP Amoco of Britain.