Leasing Sky-High: Colliers Takes on LA Office Tower

The Gas Co. Tower. Image courtesy of CommercialEdge

Brookfield Properties has appointed Colliers as exclusive office leasing agent of the Gas Co. Tower in downtown Los Angeles. Court-appointed receiver Gregg Williams of Trident Pacific Real Estate Group retained the brokerage firm. Executive Vice President Ian Gilbert and Vice Chair Matthew Heyn will spearhead the leasing efforts.

Vice Chair & Head of Colliers’ Office Capital Markets team Sean Fulp is advising the client. California Real Estate Management Services Regional Managing Director Tina Minook will be overseeing property management at The Gas Co. Tower.

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Brookfield was unable to repay a loan package of $465 million associated with the property, as well as $319 million in loans linked to the adjacent 777 South Figueroa St., as reported by multiple sources back in February.

Located at 555 W. Fifth St., the 52-story office building is located within the city’ Bunker Hill neighborhood, offering connectivity to Pershing Square METRO Station and METRO Bike Share. The Class A property is next to the historic core and in close proximity to restaurants, hotels, shopping centers, entertainment venues and cultural destinations.

The roughly 1.4 million-square-foot, Class A property completed in 1991 was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The Gas Co. Tower features various amenities an outdoor plaza with seating, a dining and coffee kiosk, EV charging stations and executive car wash and detailing services.

Tech slowdown impedes office sector recovery

The office building serves as headquarters for the Southern California Gas Co. Additional tenants at the property include Deloitte, WeWork and NuVision Federal Credit Union.

Office recovery was constrained in the first quarter of 2023 due to a combination of factors such as the banking system’s instability and a slowdown in the tech sector, despite inflation starting to level off, according to a recently released JLL report.

In Los Angeles, the vacancy rate rose from 23.2 percent to 24.1 percent on a quarter-over-quarter basis, as tenants returned additional space to the market because of ongoing economic uncertainty and challenges in returning to the office.