Cushman Realty has occupied Sanwa Bank Plaza ever since the 52-story building opened in 1990. The tower stands at 601 S. Figueroa St., at the corner of Figueroa and Wilshire Boulevard.

Cushman & Wakefield, meantime, has been headquartered at the '70s-era Arco Plaza on Flower Street for more than a decade. Many observers have been wondering where the merged companies would decide to headquarter, noting that it would be a costly logistical nightmare to maintain two separate offices in Downtown.

In the end, the decision was easy. Cushman Realty renewed its lease at Sanwa Bank Plaza a few months before the acquisition was announced, while C&W's lease at Arco Plaza expires later this year. "We hate to leave Arco Plaza, but we couldn't very well break the lease commitment that had been made" at Sanwa Bank Plaza, a Cushman & Wakefield official says.

More than 150 C&W brokers and support personnel will be housed at Sanwa Bank Plaza when the move is completed later this year. The merged companies will occupy about 55,000 sf at the building, which is owned by Houston-based Hines Interests.

Hines, which bought the office tower for about $215 million two years ago from Mitsui Fudosan USA, has reportedly been looking to refinance the complex or sell a 49% stake in it. The building is considered among the best in all of LA, and was one of the last to open as Downtown's last construction boom ended in the early 1990s.