Ares Management Inks 206 KSF Los Angeles Lease

Anderson Towers. Rendering courtesy of Montalba Architects

Ares Management has become the new anchor tenant at Anderson Towers, a two-building, 905,942-square-foot Class A mid-rise office campus in Los Angeles’ Century City.

The firm signed a 12-year lease for 206,000 square feet of space that also includes exclusive naming rights. The relocation of Ares’ Los Angeles-based team is expected in June 2024. The towers are currently undergoing an $100 million renovation, financed by AllianceBernstein.

LA Realty Partners, alongside a CBRE leasing team acted on behalf of the property’s manager and developer, Anderson Real Estate. Savills and WESTMAC represented Ares Management.

The history of Anderson towers

Located at 1800 and 1900 Ave. of the Stars, Anderson Towers were constructed in 1963 and 1968, respectively. The buildings underwent cosmetic renovations in 1993 and 2000, according to CommercialEdge information.

Situated in Century City, along one of the metro’s largest employment centers, the property hosts numerous high-profile tenants in the banking, law and technology sectors including Wells Fargo, Citi and ADR Services, the same source shows. Current amenities include 7,457 square feet of retail space and dedicated above and underground parking. Situated adjacent to Santa Monica Boulevard and within 10 miles of downtown LA, the complex has quick access to many of the city’s top commercial and cultural sites.

Anderson Towers. Rendering courtesy of OJB

The design of the redeveloped Anderson Towers is being spearheaded by David Montalba, founding principal of Montalba Architects and Dillon Diers, partner at OJB Landscape Architecture. Both firms will handle the complex’s building design and outdoor landscaping, respectively.

Tony Kantarjian of EEI is managing the project’s development. In full, the upgrades call for the addition of panoramic cityscape views, modernized amenity spaces, service offerings and property technology, as well as courtyards with a direct connection to the Westfield Century City Mall.

Peter Best, principal at LA Realty Partners in addition to CBRE First Vice Presidents Rocky Binswanger and David Freitag, as well as Senior Vice President Bryan Dunne represented Anderson. Savills Executive Managing Director John Bertram and Executive Vice President Scott Gertz negotiated the lease on behalf of Ares. John Tipton, partner at Allen Matkins served as the tenant’s counsel.

The Los Angeles office landscape

Ares’ lease closes during a time of uncertainty for the city’s office sector, as market trends are both positive and negative in the face of a large-scale downsizing of some of the city’s largest employers. According to data from a December 2022 CommercialEdge report, the city’s listing rate of $42.32 per square foot, in addition to its year-to-date sales volume of $3.2 billion rank among the highest in the nation, despite significant slowdowns in the city’s pipeline. As of November 30, the city had a vacancy rate of 14.8 percent, with only 2.1 million square feet of additional space in its pipeline.

Recent office headlines around the city include MGR Real Estate’s acquisition of Ontario Airport Tower, 147,732-square-foot asset in the Inland Empire. More locally, in December of 2022, Amir Development received $20 million in refinancing for Wilshire Robertson Plaza, a 126,567-square-foot medical office building in Beverly Hills, Calif.