LA Office Investment Activity Stays Strong

In May, office investment activity in metro Los Angeles continued at a healthy rate. The metro saw 450,793 square feet of space change hands, for a total of $274 million, according to CommercialEdge data. May was on par with the previous month, when $276 million in sales was recorded.

Investors focused on value-add plays, as all properties that traded in May were stabilized assets, offering a mix of Class A and B office space. Nine sales were recorded, four of which were in secondary urban locations, three in primary urban submarkets, and two in suburban areas.

The two largest transactions of the month involved medical office buildings. After spending $600 million in Phoenix the previous month, Harrison Street acquired two properties in Los Angeles submarkets—it purchased 9090 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills for $97.8 million, and 2825 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica, for $58.6 million. Both assets were sold by The Carlyle Group.

Los Angeles remained a top metro for office investment activity. Over the first five months of the year, a total of $1.9 billion were generated—placing third after Manhattan ($2.1 billion) and Seattle ($2.2 billion). The amount is double what was recorded over the same period last year ($951 million).

In Los Angeles, prices went up by 77 percent, to $485 per square foot as of May. Nationwide, the price for office properties decreased from $287 per square foot in May 2021, to $274 this year.

CommercialEdge covers 8M+ property records in the United States. View the latest CommercialEdge national monthly office report here.