Downtown L.A.’s PacMutual building, which has been repositioned to appeal to creative office tenants, last month signed its second-largest lease with an unexpected tenant: a new law firm.
Trial lawyers John Hueston and Brian Hennigan formed Hueston Hennigan in January after splitting from Century City firm Irell & Manella, taking four other Irell partners and more than 20 associates with them. The new firm signed a lease late last month for 21,000 square feet in the 446,023-square-foot Class A office complex at 523 W. Sixth St. The property is now 95 percent leased.
“This demonstrates that well-executed creative office space is the new Class A in downtown Los Angeles, and Hueston’s lease is further evidence of its broad appeal,” said Carle Pierose, a partner at Santa Monica’s Industry Partners, who represented landlord Rising Realty Partners in the transaction.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but industry sources said it was a five- to seven-year lease valued at about $9 million.
The firm has occupied 6,000 square feet of temporary office space in the building since January, and about 30 people will work in the space when construction is complete.
Rising bought the building for $60 million in 2012 and has spent about $25 million to upgrade and reposition it as a creative office complex.
Asking rents at PacMutual, near Pershing Square in the Central Business District, are as high $4 a square foot, according to CoStar Group Inc., surpassing the $3.29 fourth-quarter market average for downtown, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. There have been 58 lease deals signed in the building over the last two years.
Hueston Hennigan, a white-collar criminal defense practice, chose the location because it was close to the courthouses. The office is being built out to include lawyer offices around the perimeter and group stations at the center.
“We want to emphasize people coming together to share ideas,” said Moez Kaba, a founding partner. “It’s not a hierarchical space with the senior partners locked in their offices, so it is going to be more like what you’d imagine for a Silicon Beach startup space.”
Mike McKeever, a senior vice president at the downtown office of Jones Lang LaSalle, represented Hueston Hennigan in the deal. He said creative office space is in short supply downtown, especially in the Central Business District.
Foursquare for Sale
The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, founded by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923, put 14 of its properties in Echo Park up for sale last month.
Lee Black, executive managing director at DTZ/Cassidy Turley’s downtown office, is representing the church and said Foursquare hopes to find a single buyer, but is entertaining all offers. He said that he has been overwhelmed with interest in the first two weeks and expects offers in excess of $20 million.
The church has listed eight multifamily properties totaling 61 units, two single-family homes, three land parcels and one warehouse building, all of which are in close proximity to Echo Park Lake.
Michael Soto, research manager in the downtown office of real estate services firm Transwestern said he expects each property individually will sell for at least $1 million. The average sale price for a multifamily property in Echo Park is $1.8 million, according to CoStar.
The three plots of land in the portfolio total 33,449 square feet, which Black said opens a lot of possibilities for development in the area.
The church will not be selling all of its property in Echo Park. It will be holding on to the tallest building in the neighborhood, the eight-story Citibank office building at 1900 Sunset Blvd., which serves as its headquarters, and the Angelus Temple at 1100 Glendale Blvd.
“The church has identified properties that don’t fulfill a component of the overall mission of the church,” Black said. “Selling these properties will allow the church’s board of directors to steer the assets toward the church’s primary mission.”
Marina Move
JibJab Bros. Studios, a digital media production company known for comical e-cards, has relocated from Venice into a 21,000-square-foot Class C freestanding office in Marina del Rey. The company signed a five-year lease at 4121 Redwood Ave. in a deal valued at $3.5 million.
The move represents an expansion from the 6,850 square feet it took at its previous Venice headquarters at 228 Main St.
JibJab moved to a larger space because it plans to expand its head count, said Dave Toomey, a principal at tenant brokerage firm Cresa Los Angeles, who represented the company.
Cresa’s Dan Gallup also represented JibJab. The landlord, Bradmore Realty and Investment Co., was represented by Jeff Pion and Michelle Esquivel of CBRE Group Inc.
Staff reporter Hannah Miet can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
