Back in office: after a stint as an NBA owner, developer Jim Thomas returned to downtown L.A. by outbidding ex-partner Rob Maguire and others for Arco Plaza. (People).REAL estate developer Jim Thomas Jim Thomas may refer to:
Question: The downtown office market has an 18 percent vacancy rate. What's your strategy to bring tenants in? Answer: We have over 2 million square feet of prospects in various stages of discussions. Obviously we're not going to make all those deals, but it shows there's very strong interest. There are a number of leases coming up for renewal, so we're talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to a lot of people. Q: What industries will the absorption come from? A: It will come from a variety of places. We all know that large tenants have left downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . But one thing we're seeing is the smaller tenants that are 10,000 to 20,000 square feet coming into the market and growing. They're sensitive to rent so they're not going over to the Westside to pay two or three times what you can get downtown. Also, traffic is only going to get worse, so public transportation will become increasingly important in downtown. Whereas now we have 40,000 people coming through, it's going to be 70,000 to 80,000. Plus, there are a lot of the exciting things happening downtown. I know of no place in the country that has the kinds of stuff going on that we have in downtown L.A. Q: What are your plans for Arco Plaza? A: During the due diligence Research; analysis; your homework. This term has caught on in all industries, because it sounds so "wired." Who would want to do analysis or research when they can do due diligence. See wired. period, we had limited access to the property. But we've put together the initial budget for the project, which is $125 million. Our goal really is to make it better than it ever was, better than new. It's a classical design that's timeless. We're not talking about paring down the building, but enhancing it in a way to restore it to the preeminent, dominant position that it occupied before, when it was the location downtown, the business address. Q: What are your plans to increase usage of the underground retail area? A: We're taking a very careful look at the retail. It will be upgraded, we haven't completed a plan now. Q: What about the central plaza? A: It's underutilized. We want to make it more of an amenity for tenants. We want a place where tenants can go and sit, relax. We're going to retain the fountain and the sculpture. One of things we're looking at is having restaurants in the base of the tower and those restaurants could serve the tenants who like to get a sandwich, a cup of coffee and walk over to the fountain. Q: A lot of major developers competed for this property. How did you win out? A: We worked hard (laughing). We've been trying to buy this off and on for the last three years. So when it finally came back on the market we really went after it. During the due diligence period we actually drafted the purchase and sale documents so when we submitted our final offer it was as if we were saying, "Here's the price and here are the documents, just sign please." We were aggressive. Q: Picerne Group (which had an option on Arco Plaza) retained a small minority share of the property. Will Ken Picerne be involved in the redevelopment? A: They're limited partners. This is not their business, they're in a different line of business. Q: Shortly after you bought Arco Plaza, longtime tenant Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. agreed to move to BP Plaza. Why? A: Well, obviously, you have to ask them that. We would have loved to have had them stay. They had shrunk considerably in size -- they lease about 460,000 feet here and they took about 130,000 feet of office there -- so it makes it difficult to us to give them (building top signage) identity at that size. Q: Are there going to be any attempts to buy any other properties downtown? A: Oh sure, we're in the market. We have a joint venture with CalSTRS (California State Teachers Retirement System) and if we see a property that makes sense, we would go after it. Q: You have said Thomas Properties has 6 million square feet of development in the pipeline. Can you describe the properties? A: There's a couple million feet of primarily office space in El Segundo, and some hotels and retail. We have a 300-acre site in Austin, Texas that's entitled right now for almost 2 million feet of office and a little retail. Even though the Austin office market is down somewhat from high vacancies, retail is still booming, so we're in the process of converting about 125,000 feet to retail. The other 2 million feet we have is (downtown Philadelphia's) Commerce Square. We also have entitlements for another roughly 2 million feet. We're exploring a high-rise, 35-story residential tower that would be about 325 units. Q: What first brought you to 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. ? A: I came to Los Angeles in January 1966 as a trial lawyer for the Treasury Department, trying cases in the U.S. tax court. I then practiced law and one of our clients was Robert Maguire. Our relationship grew and we wound up becoming partners. So initially we formed a firm and I continued to practice law. And we formed the development firm. I had a door in my office where I could walk into his office and he could walk into mine. Q: How is your relationship now? A: Excellent. It's probably improved since we're not there to talk to each other every day. Q: How do you feel about Maguire taking his company public? A: I think it's terrific and I wish him well. You should know that I would get some of the stock, so yes, I'm rooting for it. It's my impression that they are in pretty good shape. I certainly intend to be a strong competitor for the tenants. Q: You're chairman of the Grand Avenue Committee. What's the status of its efforts to create a Music Center cultural district? A: The committee has completed the conceptual work and we are right now working with the city and county to executive the joint-powers authority. We're trying to finalize that. Q: How did you get into owning a professional sports The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. team? A: It was a lifelong dream fulfilled for me. I went to college on a basketball scholarship at a small college. I was a big-time Laker lak·er n. 1. A fish, such as the lake trout, that lives in a lake. 2. A ship used on lakes. fan -- I had seats at the Forum from the day it opened. I gradually worked my way down to courtside court·side n. The area immediately bordering the official court of play, as in tennis or basketball. seats after years and years. So in the late '80s and early '90s when it was clear there weren't any high-rise buildings to build, I looked around for other investments and considered the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga and Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. and hockey and the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= . I picked Sacramento because not only did I want to own the team, but I also wanted to own the arena and the arena was for sale. There were also 9,000 acres around Arco Arena Current arenas in the National Basketball Association Western Conference Eastern Conference so that was very appealing to a developer. All of these things "These Things" is an EP by She Wants Revenge, released in 2005 by Perfect Kiss, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Music Video The music video stars Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage. Track Listing 1. "These Things [Radio Edit]" - 3:17 2. came together. It was a fun investment. Q: Do you have any interest in owning a sports team again? A: No, I had seven years in the NBA. It was a lot of fun, and profitable, thank goodness. But I don't see myself back in professional sports. The impact I had was very remote. I could hire the coach and general manager but I couldn't get out there and shoot. When you're an owner, you watch helplessly from the sidelines as the ball rolls around the rim and your heart drops. I like to be where I have more control. Q: When the Lakers played the Kings in the playoffs last year, who did you root for? A: I had to root for the Kings. I know all of the players well, brought most of them there, hired the coach, hired the general manager, all of those people I'm very close to. They had a great chance last year. RELATED ARTICLE: INTERVIEW Jim Thomas Title: Founder and Chief Executive Company: Thomas Properties Group Born: Refused to give date, Pembroke, N.C., 100 percent Lumbee Indian Education: Bachelor's degree, political science and economics, Baldwin Wallace College Wallace College is a private educational institution located in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland, established in 1972. The college provides English language and academic courses throughout the year. External link
Most Admired People: Wife, children, parents Career Turning Point: Quitting law practice in 1983 to become a full-time developer Hobbies: Golf and reading Personal: Married for 45 years with two children and two grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. . |
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