Bucking a trend of law firms moving to downtown Los Angeles, DLA Piper LLP is maintaining its offices in Century City, where it has signed a 15-year lease.
The law firm is moving from about 42,000 square feet at 1999 Avenue of the Stars to 65,236 square feet at 2000 Avenue of the Stars, a midrise completed in 2007 that is the home of high-profile talent agency Creative Artists Agency.
Financial terms of the deal with landlord JP Morgan Asset Management Real Estate, a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co., were not disclosed. But industry sources peg the total lease in excess of $50 million. DLA also has an office downtown.
“It’s easier to attract great lawyers if you can give them a choice of two locations as their office,” said Michael Meyer, managing partner of DLA Piper’s L.A. offices, which added 30 attorneys last year.
Several law firms have moved downtown over the past year, taking advantage of vacancies and cheaper lease rates. They include Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP, which is leaving Howard Hughes Center in Westchester.
The lease also is a boost to Century City, which saw its vacancy rate rise nearly two points to 15.5 percent in the fourth quarter, according to Grubb & Ellis Co. The office district is losing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., which is moving from its namesake tower to Beverly Hills.
“We are very excited to have DLA Piper. It brings one of the world’s largest law firms and effectively puts the building at 100 percent occupancy,” said Bradley Cox, a CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. senior managing director who represented the landlord.
DLA Piper specializes in growth and high-tech companies. Among other tenants at 2000 Avenue of the Stars are the Annenberg Foundation, Comerica Bank, Deutsche Bank and Fidelity Investments.
Also representing JP Morgan were CB Richard Ellis Senior Vice Presidents Patti Gilbert and Jeff Lasky, and Associate Amanda Calof.
Jonathan Larsen, an executive managing director at Transwestern, and colleague Mark Robbins negotiated on behalf of DLA Piper.
The deal was completed in December but only made public this week.
All Aboard?
In another Century City development, a partnership has revealed plans to build a 39-story condominium tower on the site of SunCal Cos. long-dead project.
The partnership of developers, which includes Bruce Menin and Casey Klein, plans to build 283 luxury units that are expected to hit the market at an average price of $1.5 million. They will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units, ranging between 1,600 and 2,000 square feet.
Menin’s Miami-based company Crescent Heights purchased the 10000 Santa Monica Blvd. property for $59 million last year from Irvine’s SunCal Cos. The earlier project – designed by renowned architect Jean Nouvel – stalled in late 2008 after the company filed bankruptcy on the development.
The partnership, known as 10000 Santa Monica Blvd LLC, is looking for financing. The tower is expected to cost $185 million, and must still go through environmental review and the entitlement process.
The SunCal project was vocally opposed by residents, but the Comstock Hills Homeowners Association has thrown its support behind the new proposal. President Jan Reichmann said the developers have worked with the community in minimizing its impact.
“Fortunately, we were introduced to the developer early on,” Reichmann said. “He has been forthcoming. The majority of the community is in favor of this.”
Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, who represents the area, also supports the development.
The project is expected to provide 1,900 construction jobs and about $300 million in economic activity in the area.
Broker Hire
CB Richard Ellis has hired away the head of Newport Beach-based Voit Real Estate Co.
Kurt Strasmann has become the senior managing director of the Los Angeles, Orange County and Inland Empire industrial practice for the West L.A.-based commercial real estate services firm.
The 145-broker group claims to generate nearly $100 million in annual revenue. Strasmann will be based in Commerce.
“It was easy for me to decide which company I wanted to work for. I’m working on a much broader platform with larger geographical coverage,” said Strasmann, who was with Voit only since 2009 after a 24-year career at Grub & Ellis.
Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225 ext 228.
