After entering the Los Angeles market in 1980, Chicago-based Sidley Austin LLP is poised for a one-two punch to renew its commitment here.

The firm is preparing to relocate its longtime downtown office in March to the City National 2Cal building atop Bunker Hill. And once it is completed in 2026, the firm will move its Century City location to the Century City Center, where it will be an anchor tenant. All told, the firm will occupy five full floors covering more than 127,000 square feet, with options to take on two additional floors.

“It’s a doubling down of our commitment to Los Angeles,” said Dan Clivner, managing partner of Sidley Austin’s L.A. operation and a member of the firm’s executive committee. 

“Each is going to be a long-term lease in beautiful new office space, and you wouldn’t do that if you didn’t have confidence in the future of the market. A lot of new firms have entered the market in the last 36 months, and we welcome them, but we anticipate we will continue to be the most successful of all those imports,” he added.

Sidley Austin last year was ranked No. 12 on the Business Journal’s list of law firms by local attorney headcount. Among those firms not based in L.A., it had the third largest headcount. 

The new downtown location will cover two full floors and encompass more than 57,000 square feet. Those attorneys plan to relocate in March, leaving behind a five-floor operation that had significantly downsized following the firm’s expansion to Century City. The 12-year lease includes an option to take on an additional floor.

“This is an opportunity for us to right-size the space, given we don’t have the need for that space, and also to build out brand-new space,” said Rollin Ransom, managing partner of the downtown office. “We are reducing our footprint in a way that aligns with our current headcount and to account for the current law firm landscape.”

Meanwhile, Sidley Austin also committed to taking on three floors to the tune of more than 70,000 square feet at the Century City Center, a 37-story tower being built in that neighborhood. It will join Creative Artists Agency and Clearlake Capital Group as anchor tenants of that building, which is expected to be opened in 2026.

That 16-year lease also comes with an additional floor option, and importantly will link that operation into a contiguous block.

“It was hard to find three-going-on-four floors in Century City. That was the biggest issue,” Clivner said. “In our current building, we have three floors that are disconnected, so to find a block in this market that was all connected was a challenge.”

The firm declined to disclose its investment in renting and building out the spaces.