Architect Firm DMJM to Move Its Headquarters Downtown
Venerable Los Angeles architecture and engineering firm Daniel Mann Johnson & Mendenhall agreed to move its headquarters from the Wilshire district to Arco Plaza downtown.
The international company popularly known as DMJM, or “DimJim,” will be downtown’s biggest new tenant in recent memory--giving the vacancy-plagued high-rise district a shot in the arm. The move had been anticipated for several months.
DMJM’s 500 workers as well as officials of its parent company, Aecom Technology Corp., are scheduled to move east in late September from One Park Plaza at 3250 Wilshire Blvd. They’ll occupy about 125,000 square feet of offices at the twin 52-story towers on Flower Street.
The closely held company signed a 15-year lease with property owner Shuwa Investments Corp. Financial details weren’t disclosed, but downtown real estate sources estimate the transaction is valued at $45 million to $50 million. The sources say DMJM’s rent starts in the low-$20 per square foot annually and escalates at regular intervals during the lease term.
Much of the DMJM operation will be housed on four lower floors of the north tower at 515 Flower St. Aecom will occupy offices on a single floor at 555 Flower.
Shuwa already had retained DMJM to help upgrade Arco Plaza’s lobbies, and the firm’s DMJM Rottet specialty interiors group is designing new suites for the company.
A Cushman Realty Corp. team of Brian Ulf, C. Edward Simpson and Andrew Goodman negotiated the deal on DMJM’s behalf. Shuwa’s Thomas Kibler negotiated for the landlord.
DMJM’s move represents a welcome boost to a long-sluggish market for downtown high-rise office space that has been showing signs of revitalization lately, Ulf said.
The move also fills a substantial chunk of empty offices at Arco Plaza, which boasts such key tenants as Bank of America and U.S. Trust, but has been half-vacant after losing namesake tenant Atlantic Richfield in the wake of its acquisition by BP Amoco. Shuwa reportedly is looking to sell the property.
Downtown’s office vacancy rate remains just above 20%, including available sublease space, according to Cushman Realty.
