Northrop to Expand Offices

Northrop Grumman Corp. will expand its headquarters in Century City as part of a $100-million agreement that is one of the largest leases of the year in Los Angeles County.

The global aerospace and defense company recently signed a lease renewal that will expand its 131,140 square feet to 193,129 square feet in Northrop Grumman Plaza II at 1840 Century Park E.

The 15-year deal also is one of the largest in Southern California, said real estate broker Annie Kodak of CB Richard Ellis, who represented the landlord, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, in the deal.

Northrop has about 600 executive and administrative employees in the building and expects to expand over the course of the lease, Kodak said. The 330,000-square-foot building is almost fully leased.

Other tenants include Mercantile National Bank, investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald Inc., executive recruiter Korn/Ferry International and broadcaster Fox Sports Net, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group.

One of the primary reasons that Northrop agreed to stay, Kodak said, is that the landlord has promised to perform an upgrade of the common areas of the 19-year-old building and the adjoining 33-year-old Northrop Grumman Plaza I, both of which were designed by the noted Los Angeles architect Welton Becket.

The $10-million upgrade by Los Angeles architecture and engineering firm DMJM will start next year and include a prominent new rotunda layout in the 15-story Northrop Grumman Plaza II, as well as new lobbies, entrances and landscaping.

A Northrop sign will be placed atop the building as part of the agreement.

Colliers Seeley, the commercial real estate consultants, and Weber Wood Meding represented Northrop Grumman in the negotiations.