Parking lot across from Staples Center sells for $31 million
A large parking lot across the street from Staples Center that is considered a prime site for residential and retail development has been sold for $31 million to one of the city’s largest parking lot operators.
The L&R Group of Companies, which operates Joe’s Auto Parks and WallyPark, bought the 2.7-acre parcel at 12th and Figueroa streets from Ektornet, which manages foreclosed properties for its parent company, Swedish bank Swedbank.
The asphalt-covered property in downtown Los Angeles will continue as a parking lot, said Gilead Lumer of L&R.
“We didn’t purchase it with a long-term plan in mind,” Lumer said. “We do intend to hang onto it for the foreseeable future. We want to be in that part of town.”
The site is zoned for substantial commercial development, including multifamily residential units. Its previous owner, developer South Group, announced in 2005 that it would build two 34-story luxury condo towers and shops there in a complex to be called Figueroa South.
South Group, a partnership of two Portland, Ore., developers, bought the land for $23.5 million from AEG, the owner of L.A. Live and part owner of Staples Center. South Group’s plans couldn’t be achieved during the economic downturn and its lender foreclosed on the property.
With the property’s South Park neighborhood now an entertainment and residential hub, the lot was highly sought-after, real estate broker Michael Zietsman said.
“The offering drew significant interest from investors around the globe,” said Zietsman of Jones Lang LaSalle. The site, he said, “is one of the few quality high-rise development opportunities in Southern California.”
City officials have approved development of 648 residential units along with restaurants, shops and other entertainment uses there.
