A Taiwanese bank is relocating in the downtown market in face of escalating rental rates.

First Commercial Bank has signed a lease at 600 Wilshire Blvd. and will leave City National Plaza at 515 S. Flower St. this December.

The 10-year lease deal for 10,751 square feet is valued at about $3 million. The deal for space in the 16-story building, which is owned by Beacon Capital Partners LLC, closed in mid-June.

“This move shows that even the mid-rise buildings with Wilshire addresses that are well located will continue to drive tenancy and increases in rental rate,” said John McAniff, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., who represented Beacon in the deal.

First Commercial Bank, a subsidiary of First Financial Holding Co. Ltd., is Taiwan’s biggest private commercial bank. The company has had offices at City National Plaza, which is owned by Thomas Properties Group Inc., for more than 15 years.

Jonathan Larsen, executive managing director for Transwestern, said that the bank decided to move when rental rates increased at City National Plaza, a trophy office project.

“We were able to move into a comparable building with a good value,” said Larsen, who represented the bank in the deal. He said the building at 600 Wilshire Blvd. is a Class A minus property.

“It’s a comparable building without the amenities,” he said. The deal breaks down to about $2.36 per square foot per month.

“With all the trading of buildings the rates are being pushed up, but there is no fundamental demand,” Larsen said. “I think you are going to see a lot more tenants saying, ‘Hey I don’t need to pay $3 a foot when I can pay closer to $2.'”

The bank offers consumer and corporate banking, among other services, and plans a renovation of the space.

J.D. DeRosa of Transwestern also represented the bank and Tim Miller of Jones Lang LaSalle also represented Beacon.

El Segundo Sale

After signing a lease deal for the building at 2335 Alaska Ave. in El Segundo, Los Angeles-based business consulting firm Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC decided a few weeks later to buy it for $12.3 million.

The 46,940-square-foot two-story office building was sold by Alliance Commercial Partners LLC in an off-market transaction. The deal closed in early June.

“Kurtzman initially leased it, and the opportunity was to buy it, finance it and control their own destiny,” said Bob Safai of Madison Partners. “The cost benefits of ownership and appreciation were attractive.”

Safai said that Kurtzman’s purchase of the property is structured so that the company can actually own the building for less than what it was paying to rent the property. The company had signed a 12-year lease for the property.

“If you are going to occupy space for 12 years you may as well own,” said Safai, who represented both sides of the deal.

The office vacancy rate in El Segundo was 10.3 percent for the first quarter, according to Grubb & Ellis Co. data.

Alliance had bought the building and another adjacent property for $9.5 million about a year ago.

“It’s a tremendous return,” said Safai.

Beverly Hills Bank

Hanmi Bank, which serves the Korean-American community, plans to open a banking branch in Beverly Hills for private banking services after signing a 10-year lease at 9300 Wilshire Blvd.

The deal for 5,253 square feet of space at landlord Lexington Commercial Holdings’ building is valued at about $3 million. The deal closed in mid-June and breaks down to about $4.76 per square foot per month. H & R; Block previously occupied the space.

“It’s a great value. It wasn’t even officially on the market,” said Larsen of Transwestern, who represented the bank. “We were able to be the first in and do a favorable lease. When a bank branch becomes available in Beverly Hills, there is demand for it.”

Hanmi plans to renovate the space and the bank branch will open next month.

“They are going to do significant upgrades (befitting) a Beverly Hills private banking branch,” Larsen said. “It is going to be top of the line.”

Brent Bissell of Grubb & Ellis represented the landlord and Suzanne Lee of Transwestern also represented the bank.

Staff reporter Daniel Miller can be reached at

[email protected]

or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.