DTLA Office Market Picks Up

Phillip Sample is the SVP at CBRE.

LOS ANGELES—Investor demand for quality office product is picking up in the Downtown Los Angeles market. Chase Plaza has traded hands between two unnamed investors for $50 million in a highly competitive sale that drew international attention. The sale serves as an example of the changing market, which is getting more popular among tenants and still offers a relative value for investors to markets like West Los Angeles.

“We had more activity on this building than any other buildings we have sold in the last 12 months,” Phillip Sample, SVP at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “Most of the demand is not coming from local investors but from the East Coast and abroad, specifically. Foreign investors and companies alike are flocking to Los Angeles, trying to capitalize on our employment talent in downtown. Westside companies are looking to gain access to this growing talent pool. We expect rents will continue to climb as we anticipate further increases in demand for office space.” Sample and his CBRE colleagues Brad Chelf, Chris Caras, and Michael Shustak represented the seller, which was described as a partnership between a New York-based group and a local investment company, and the buyer in the transaction.