Profile: Wedbush Morgan is the latest firm to have its name affixed to the top of a downtown tower.
By DANNY KING
Staff Reporter
Forty-four years after founding his namesake L.A. investment firm, Edward Wedbush finally has made it to the top.
Giant new signs for Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc. over the past two weeks have been hoisted into place atop the north- and south-facing sides of the 22-story tower at 1000 Wilshire Blvd. in downtown.
And Wedbush promises the champagne will be flowing at this week’s dedication ceremony. “When you get all done, it looks pretty good,” said Wedbush of the new signage.
Wedbush is just the latest of a flurry of new names being emblazoned onto the downtown skyline in recent months. Among the others are law firms Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP and Manning & Marder Kass Ellrod Ramirez LLP, as well as insurance firm Aon Corp.
With the recent activity, a 10-year transformation of the downtown skyline is nearly complete, as bank and oil company logos are being replaced with those of law, accounting and consulting firms.
It’s left downtown with precious few high-rises where tenants seeking a higher profile can affix their logos. While downtown boasts about 80 office buildings, only a handful have building-top signage rights available.
Among those businesses said to be scrambling to snag one of the few remaining skyline slots are AIG Inc. and La Opinion, downtown brokers said.
While the value of such signage is debatable, Wedbush is paying $260,000 annually for his. Some freeway-adjacent building-top rights are worth as much as seven figures a year, brokers said.
“Every time they put a sign up, there are fewer options than before,” said Lincoln Property Co. Senior Vice President John Ghiselli, who was with Julien J. Studley when he represented Wedbush Morgan in its 10-year, $26 million lease deal. “The value of a sign is higher than it was a year ago.”
That appreciating value is due largely to the limited supply of downtown structures where building-top signage is allowed. It dates back many years.
“The CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) had a lot more power in downtown L.A. in the late ’80s, when these buildings were built,” said Ghiselli. “They frowned upon building-top signage.”
The few signs that were allowed reflected a region dominated by financial institutions like Security Pacific Bank and First Interstate Bank, as well as oil companies like Atlantic Richfield Co.
Since then, bank and oil industry consolidation has merged those companies into oblivion. And the proliferation of financial services firms like KPMG Consulting Inc. and Deloitte & Touche is now reflected on the skyline, symbolizing broader shifts in the regional economy.
“These are all tenants that were either not here or much smaller when the buildings were built,” said Patrick Ramsey, a partner at Paul Hastings.
Sky-high competition
While local government has loosened the reins on signage approval, demand for top-of-building identity remains intense. And that demand is not limited to tenants: Landlords are equally eager to have the right logo atop their buildings to enhance the structure’s prestige and value.
For instance, Paul Hastings was approached by 1000 Wilshire’s landlord before it signed its 15-year, $80 million-plus deal at 515 S. Flower St., which has been renamed Paul Hastings Tower.
Sometimes it’s the tenant that gets denied.
Manning & Marder failed in its quest for signage rights at its former offices at 707 Wilshire Blvd., so it cut a $13.5 million deal last June to move into 47,000 square feet at 660 S. Figueroa St. for 10 years and got signage there. (The signage rights at 707 Wilshire went to Aon two months later.)
Manning & Marder’s broker, Clayton Hovivian of Cushman & Wakefield of California Inc., said the firm’s space requirement was too small to get signage consideration in 707 Wilshire, which has about 1 million square feet of total space.
At the 660 S. Figueroa building, “the law firm is a bigger fish in a smaller pond,” said Hovivian.
The number of remaining downtown ponds may be as low as three.
“All but a few of the major buildings are spoken for,” said Ghiselli, who named 300 S. Grand, 911 Wilshire and 1055 W. Seventh St. (just west of the Harbor Freeway) as the only substantial buildings downtown without existing signage.
Insignia/ESG Inc. Executive Managing Director Todd Doney, who represented 707 Wilshire landlord Wells Fargo Bank on the Aon deal, noted that while building-top signage provides an obvious advantage for the tenant, the landlord benefits as well.
“There’s a value to Wells Fargo to have a classy institution like Aon on top,” said Doney. “If you get the right name on the building, its good for the owner.”
