LA Office Building Commands $196M

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Wedbush Center, Los Angeles

In a $196 million deal, Cerberus acquired Wedbush Center at 1000 Wilshire, a 476,491-square-foot Class A trophy office building in downtown Los Angeles, from Lincoln Property Co.

The sale was facilitated by Kevin Shannon, NKF Capital Markets’ co-head; Rob Hannan, the company’s senior managing director; Laura Stumm and Michael Moll, managing directors; and Ken White, executive managing director. Meanwhile, David Milestone, the company’s executive managing director, and Brett Green, managing director, procured the financing for the buyer.

“With the infusion of more than $27 million of capital since 2000 in residential, retail, hospitality and cultural amenities, Downtown Los Angeles has become one of the preeminent urban renaissance stories in the U.S.,” Hannan said in a prepared release. “This investment has generated tremendous momentum for Downtown as one of LA’s premier live-work-play environments.”

The 21-story building recently underwent a $4 million renovation, which included the repositioning of the building’s ground-floor lobby areas, the addition of a full-service bar and café restaurant, and further reshaping the building.

Wedbush Center at 1000 Wilshire offers a prominent freeway-adjacent location visible to more than 300,000 vehicles. It’s close by popular entertainment and retail destinations such as Staples Center, LA Live and FIGat7th, and is in the midst of downtown LA’s most anticipated new developments, including the Wilshire Grand Center and Metropolis.

Currently, the building is 86 percent leased to a roster of tenants that includes Wedbush Securities.

“The center of gravity for LA has expanded north fueled by game-changing developments such as Metropolis and Wilshire Grand,” Shannon said.

Los Angeles is hot

According to Savills Studley’s 2017 Q4 Office Market Report, asking rents for the Los Angeles office market commanded $36.97 during the period, an increase of 1.2 percent. And while downtown’s leasing has been sporadic the last two years, there were plenty of renewals in 2017.

Last October, a joint venture between The Muller Co., and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP recapitalized an 841,036-square-foot office portfolio in Orange County. 

Image courtesy of NKF Capital Markets