Tishman Lands Two More Leases at Wilshire Courtyard

Less than two months after buying the two-building Wilshire Courtyard office complex in West Los Angeles, Tishman Speyer has completed two lease transactions there totaling nearly 75,000 square feet, bringing the property’s occupancy to 94 percent, the company announced Wednesday.

In the larger lease, Katz Communications, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, signed a 10-year lease for 45,500 square feet at 5700 Wilshire Boulevard. Katz, based in New York, represents 4,000 radio stations, 700 television and digital multicast stations, and 4,000 online publishers.

And in the other lease, E! Entertainment Network signed a 28,100-square-foot expansion at 5750 Wilshire Boulevard. The network, a subsidiary of NBC Universal, produces, records and broadcasts dozens of TV and radio shows from that location.

Opened in 1987, Wilshire Courtyard is home to several major entertainment/media companies, including OWN – The Oprah Winfrey Network, Fox Animation, the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Interpublic Group. The 1-million-square-foot complex consists of two six-story buildings with 80,000- to 100,000-square-foot floor plates, and its distinctive design features 125 individual balconies.

Tishman Speyer plans to update the property by renovating its outdoor plaza and various internal common areas. The renovation reportedly will be in the architectural planning phase for at least another couple of months.

A recent Jones Lang LaSalle report pegged Wilshire Courtyard’s recent sale price at $423 million. The seller in that transaction, RREEF, had in turn bought the buildings in 2005 for a reported $378 million.

“The recent acquisition of this great property has enhanced our position in the West Los Angeles submarket, which continues to be the strongest office submarket in Los Angeles,” Tishman Speyer regional managing director Mark Laderman said in the announcement.

The company’s other L.A.-area properties total more than 1.6 million square feet and include Continental Grand Plaza, a pair of six-story Class A offices in El Segundo totaling 476,000 square feet; the four-building, 324,000-square-foot Playa Vista business complex in West LA; and the 289,900-square-foot Maple Plaza office building in Beverly Hills

Finally, Commercial Real Estate Direct.com reported last week that Morgan Stanley has launched a $193 million CMBS deal backed by a senior mortgage against Wilshire Courtyard.