Iconic Downtown LA Office Building Commands $336M

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Los Angeles—Coretrust Capital Partners LLC, through its investment fund, Coretrust Value Fund I, has acquired Citigroup Center, a 48-story LEED Gold office tower in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, from Hines for $336 million.

Citigroup Center

The company received a $230 million loan for the acquisition held by the Bank of China.

“We were attracted to the location, its size, floor plates; it’s a building that hasn’t really been updated so it gives us an opportunity to effectively redevelop and reposition the property and rebrand it,” John Sischo, Coretrust Capital Partners’ principal, told Commercial Property Executive. “We’ve seen a continued growth in the area’s residential community, expansion of retail and also the development of the metro.”

Located at 444 South Flower St., the modern, stainless steel building totals 914,000 square feet and was once featured as the fictional headquarters for the law firm on “L.A. Law.” It was developed by Rockefeller Group in 1981 and designed by noted architectural firm AC Martin Partners.

“Historically, we either develop very large CBD-oriented buildings or we redevelop CBD-oriented buildings,” Sischo said.

Coretrust Capital Partners plans to invest more than $50 million to upgrade the building. According to Sischo, the company will focus on enhancing its market profile by upgrading common areas with special emphasis on the tenant arrival experience and outdoor amenity spaces, rebranding and repositioning the property to intersect with the needs and demands of forward looking tenants.

The building features three distinct and highly efficient floor plate sizes; unique outdoor/indoor usability with multiple public terraces; unparalleled metro-centric location; on-site tenant services Equinox, Starbucks, Mendocino Farms and a Citibank branch; and one of the largest public art collections including works by world-renowned artists Rauschenberg, Stella, Heizer, Nauman and di Suvero.

At the time of the sale, the building was 25 percent vacant, and Coretrust Capital Partners believes this presents a great opportunity for the firm, as it works to design spaces that today’s customer desires.

“Our goal is to provide our tenants with a concierge-level of service found in boutique buildings with the amenities only a one million square foot trophy tower can provide,” Sischo said. “Millennials want to be removed from an obligation to use a car, and what we see in most of our office buildings is tenants are looking for an alternative to their home.”