Westside office towers are swaying over recession.

Westside office towers are swaying over recession

Westside office buildings, like those throughout Los Angeles County, have been feeling the fallout of the continuing real estate slump. And that includes even some of the largest ones, featured in the The List on page 30.

But clearly, some Westside mega-projects have been suffering more than others.

Century City North, for example, ranked 10th on The List, seems to be having a particularly tough time filling the space recently vacated by tenants relocating to 1999 Avenue of the Stars, industry sources reported.

Landlord JMB Properties Co. is agreeing to 20 percent discounts off its $2.50-a-foot monthly asking rates on existing built-out space. And those discounts can most likely now be had on raw space, as well, Westside brokers said.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Westside mega-project enjoying considerable success lately is Colorado Place. That project's owner, Maguire Thomas Partners, has succeeded in leasing more than 640,000 square feet of space there since purchasing the six-building complex in the fall of 1988.

The project's sixth and final building was completed just last month, and a brand new health club was opened for tenants' use on the property earlier this month. The project's recreational park - complete with a lap pool, tennis, squash and racquetball courts - is slated to open in September. And an October "grand opening" party is being planned.

Meanwhile, directly across the street in Santa Monica, Jerry Snyder and Marvin Davis are putting the finishing touches on the 660,000-square-foot first phase of the 17-acre Water Garden.

The only major tenant signed up for that project so far is the law firm of Haight Brown & Bonesteel, which has leased about 110,000 square feet. The Snyder/Davis group is continuing its on-again-off-again talks with Candle Corp., a local computer concern, that is considering leasing some 200,000 square feet at the Water Garden. But no deal is imminent, sources said.

Several other smaller tenants are "kicking the tires" at the Water Garden, but few have been inked.

Snyder/Davis is not expected to announce a groundbreaking date for the Water Garden's 600,000-square-foot second phase until the first phase is at least 70 percent leased, sources said.

In general, Westside tenants seem to be favoring cheap, functional space these days and shying away from glitzy, high-profile space. But one notable exception to that trend in 1999 Avenue of the Stars, which has continued to attract a steady stream of prestigious tenants since its completion last year.

Fox Plaza, although it is technically about 98 percent leased, has lots of available sublease space. The 18,000-square-foot space vacated by an advertising firm three years ago on Fox Plaza's 16th floor remains empty. Westside brokers said the price for that space, about $3.10 a foot, is just too high, and the tenant improvements are too user-specific. Also, a law firm recently vacated about 8,300 square feet of space on Fox Plaza's fourth floor.

Probably the most talked about Westside mega-project right now is Lowe Development Corp.'s complex in Santa Monica, the Arboretum.

Last spring, Sony Music Entertainment Inc. agreed to relocate its West Coast headquarters to an as-yet-unbuilt "music campus" at the Arboretum. Digging has already begun on what will eventually be the subterranean parking garage of Sony's 95,000-square-foot campus.

Lowe, however, does not plan to break ground on the Arboretum's 635,040-square-foot for-lease office component until an anchor tenant and financing have been secured for that space.

Groundbreaking for the Arboretum's proposed 270,000-square-foot luxury hotel has also been put on indefinite hold until the local hotel market firms up and financing is secured.

PHOTO : Century Plaza's twin towers top The List: 2.25 million square feet