An Inside Look at CBRE’s Value-Creation Machine

Lew Horne is the president of Los Angeles and Orange County at CBRE.

LOS ANGELES—CBRE has proven that it is not just a brokerage firm with the recent sale of 400 S. Hope Street, the firm’s global headquarters. In an earlier story, GlobeSt.com reported that the firm’s investment arm CBRE Global Investors, has sold the property to a joint venture between PNC Financial Services and GLL RE Partners for what industry sources say is $330 million, a value creation of $100 million in four years. CBRE handled every aspect of the business plan internally to drive value.

“The big story is the value that we created in a building that has been here since 1983,” Lew Horne, the president of the Los Angeles region and Orange County at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com exclusively. “Prior to our involvement, the building was considered a good building but not a great building. Now, it is an iconic building with what we have done with it. At the time CBRE Global Investors purchased the property, it was 81% leased. Now it is 93% leased, and it is out performing the rest of the market.”