ARCO PLAZA ON THE MARKET.Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX Real Estate The Arco Towers, a familiar signature on downtown Los Angeles' skyline, symbol of the city's once-substantial corporate muscle and its attractiveness to Asian investment dollars, are for sale, the Daily News has learned. The owner, Toyko-based Shuwa Co. Ltd., has retained New York-based CB Richard Ellis CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. NYSE: CBG is a multinational real estate corporation currently based in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.. On December 20, 2006, the corporation, also known as CBRE, completed acquisition of Trammell Crow Co. in a transaction valued at $2. to broker the property, said sources familiar with the deal. Shuwa did not return a phone call seeking comment, and CB's representatives could not be reached. Shuwa paid $620 million cash for the high-profile property known as Arco Plaza in 1986, at the time the second-largest real estate deal in California history. Shuwa also tried to sell the complex in 1999. This pending sale means that 2002 will see two high-profile properties totaling more than 4 million square feet of space change hands as the sprawling Warner Center Properties in Woodland Hills is also on the market. And if action on the Warner Center portfolio is any indication, Arco Towers should get a lot of attention. Warner Center Properties is being marketed by the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. office of Secured Capital Corp., and bids were due at the end of November, real estate executives familiar with the process said. Secured Capital did not return phone calls, but word on the street is that between a dozen and 20 bidders from pension funds to investment houses are interested. Both developments are huge. Warner Center has 2.3 million square feet of space, while the Arco property, in the 500 block of South Flower Street, has 2.2 million square feet of space. The 52-story towers, because of their location, might be the better catch, said one real estate executive who did not want to be identified. ``This is much more visible. Warner Center is a nice bunch of buildings, but they don't have the signature status the Arco Towers has. This is like the Embarcadaro in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden ,'' he said. Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said that this is probably a good time for a sale, because downtown is getting an image transplant. ``They've had some success in landing tenants. It's a prime property, it just needs some TLC TLC total lung capacity; thin-layer chromatography. TLC abbr. 1. thin-layer chromatography 2. ,'' Kyser said. Last week, in the largest downtown lease transaction this year, the international law firm of Paul Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol said it would spend $80 million over 15 years for 208,847 square feet at in the north tower. It will be renamed Paul Hastings Tower. The company is in the south tower. It's likely that the Warner Center property will be the first one sold. It was purchased in 1995 by the Alaska Pension Fund and a Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. employees fund for $170 million. The property consists of six high-rise towers along Oxnard Street and 15 low-rise structures. Companies interested in the property are said to include Trammell Crow F. Trammell Crow (born June 11, 1914, in Dallas, Texas) is an American property developer who created several famous projects, including Dallas Market Center, Peachtree Center (Atlanta, Georgia), and San Francisco's Embarcadero Center. Co., Arden Realty realty n. a short form of "real estate." (See: real estate) REALTY. An abstract of real, as distinguished from personalty. Realty relates to lands and tenements, rents or other hereditaments. Vide Real Property. , Kearney Real Estate, Thomas Properties Group and Equity Office Properties Trust Equity Office Properties Trust, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is the largest owner of office buildings in the United States. It was formed in 1976 by Samuel Zell [1] and in February 2007, was acquired by the Blackstone Group for $23 billion plus the assumption of . Most of the firms declined comment, although Trammell Crow and Arden Realty did confirm they are bidding on the property. ``We're in the mix, that's about all I can say,'' said Arden Realty spokeswoman Brooke Lauter. Trammell Crow was more expansive. Bob Ruth, the company's senior managing director, said that a lead candidate to buy the portfolio should be identified by year's end. He thinks the deal could close between March and June. ``It's a great opportunity in a market that is underserved. There is not a lot of high-rise office space,'' Ruth said. Mark Leonard, a director in Cushman & Wakefield's San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. office, said that this will likely end up being a complex deal since the portfolio includes the core high-rise assets and the 15 low-rise buildings in Warner Center. ``I'd said roughly 15 percent of the portfolio value is in the 15 buildings and the other 85 percent is in the core assets,'' Leonard said. |
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