KPFF Doubles LA Office Footprint

By Jeff Hamann

The Bloc in Los Angeles

KPFF, an engineering company, has signed a lease of 24,000 square feet in The Bloc, a Los Angeles office high-rise owned by The Ratkovich Co. The full-floor lease will double the firm’s footprint in the tower, adding to the 24,000-square-foot space KPFF moved into on the building’s 20th floor in 2016. The new agreement is for the 19th floor and will commence after it is built out over the next 12 months.

Originally built in 1972 at 700 S. Flower St. in Los Angeles’ urban core, The Bloc reopened in 2016 following a two-year, $275 million capital improvement project which added a 400,000-square-foot shopping center to the property and resulted in significant renovations to the 33-story, 720,000-square-foot Class A office tower. A wide range of tenants have inked leases in the structure, including the DLR Group, Keller Williams Realty, Golin and HauteLook, according to Yardi Matrix data.

Craig Kish of Newmark Knight Frank represented KPFF in the transaction, which will consolidate the firm’s existing West Los Angeles and Pasadena offices.

“KPFF’s LA-area structural division identified the importance of being located near the growing hub of architecture, construction and other development-related companies in downtown Los Angeles,” said Kish, managing director of Newmark Knight Frank, in a prepared statement. “KPFF also saw the advantage for its employees to have supporting transit options with the 7th Street/Metro Center Station adjacent to the office. This relocation is yet another positive sign of net absorption for downtown, and I believe we will see further migration here by others in this industry category over the coming months.”

Image via Google Street View