Developer Robert F. Maguire III, who helped shaped L.A.’s real estate landscape, has died at age 86.
Maguire’s family told the Los Angeles Times that he died May 18 of complications from pneumonia.
Some of Maguire’s best-known projects include the Northrop Building in Century City, which was built in 1968, and the U.S. Bank Tower, the Wells Fargo Center, KPMG Tower and the Gas Company Tower, all in downtown.
“I’ve always viewed him as an icon of Southern California commercial real estate. Him and Jim Thomas remade the downtown L.A. skyline. Those were some of the hottest buildings in L.A.,” said Peter Belisle, market director for the Southwest region of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
Belisle did construction management in the 1990s and worked with tenants in buildings Maguire developed.
Maguire also helped shape Playa Vista, where he developed the Water’s Edge campus.
Maguire was born in Portland, Ore. His grandfather was a judge in the Nuremberg trials held after World War II, and his father, a pilot, helped evacuate thousands of Jewish refugees to Israel in the late 1940s.
Maguire graduated from UCLA. From there he went on to work at Security Pacific National Bank.
In 1965 he started his own firm, Maguire Properties. Jim Thomas joined in the 1980s and the company became Maguire Thomas Partners. Thomas and Maguire split in 1996.
Maguire took Maguire Thomas Partners public in 2003. He left the company in 2008, and veteran developer Nelson Rising took over as president and chief executive.
The company, which was renamed MPG Office Trust, was acquired by Brookfield Office Properties Inc.
“Rob Maguire and I were partners and worked together in a few different capacities over nearly three decades,” Rising said in a statement. “Rob was one of the most determined and hardworking people I have ever encountered in real estate. When people would count him out, Rob would deal himself back in. From Wells Fargo Center, (to) LACMA to Water’s Edge, and other iconic projects, L.A.’s urban landscape owes a debt of thanks to Rob.”
Maguire developed industrial and housing projects before working on high-rise office towers.
The 73-story U.S. Bank Tower, built in 1989, became one of Maguire’s most notable projects. At the time it was built, it was the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast.
The tower, along with the nearby Gas Company Tower, which was built in 1991, helped save the Central Library, which had been damaged in a fire.
Maguire Thomas Partners purchased air rights to the building, which allowed Maguire to build his two towers up and save the library, which used the money for repairs and an expansion.
Maguire was involved in the community as well, serving as president of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. According to the Los Angeles Times, he convinced the museum to purchase the site of the May Co. department store next door to expand LACMA’s campus.
That land was leased by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2014 for its museum, which is scheduled to open later this year.
Maguire was also on the board of the Los Angeles Music Center.
In an interview with the Business Journal in 2019, Maguire said that during the course of his career L.A. had emerged as a financial hub where deals could be done, something that wasn’t always the case.
He added that he had no plans to retire and maintained a busy agenda. “My plate is full, which makes me happy, and I feel fulfilled,” he said.
Belisle said that Maguire’s legacy will live on, especially with the rejuvenation of downtown as a destination.
“What’s exciting about real estate is the work that you do, if it’s quality work, leaves a physical legacy. That’s going to be good for L.A. over time and as we come out of the pandemic,” he said.
He added that Maguire had “great vision … and someone like that that has great vision does really leave a long-lasting legacy.”
