Arden still holds the title of largest office space owner in Southern California with just under 19 million sf, but Lee now has the L.A. County title with 12 million sf, compared to the REIT's slightly more than 11 million sf, according to tallies from the two companies and from brokers familiar with Lees holdings.

Lee's latest acquisition was the 372,790-sf World Trade Center at 350 S. Figueroa St. Downtown, which his Jamison Properties bought from Haseko of Japan. The sales price was undisclosed, but it is believed to be above $53 million. The transaction was brokered by Kevin Shannon, Michael Moore and Scott Schumacher of Grubb & Ellis' South Bay office, along with Chris Runyen of the firm's Downtown Los Angeles office.

"For a core market, it's unusual to have a private investor, rather than an institution" as the largest player, Shannon tells GlobeSt.com.

Lee's privately held company began buying office buildings in 1995, concentrating on the Mid-Wilshire area, and by 2001 Lee was reported to own about seven million sf in the Mid-Wilshire and Miracle Mile districts of the city. Since then, he has acquired properties in other county office markets and has added to his Mid-Wilshire holdings as well.

Large institutions and REITS have amassed huge portfolios during this same period of time, with much press coverage in recent years focusing on the growth of the big public players. But Howard Stern, chief investment officer at Arden, points out that statistics show the private buyers holding their own, and then some, especially in Los Angeles. Stern cites figures from New York City-based Real Capital Analytics showing that, in roughly 63% of the sales of office properties in Southern California in 2003, the buyers were private local and national entities. By contrast, in the rest of the country, private entities were the buyers in about 50% of the transactions in 2003. The figures illustrate what Stern calls a shift in the buyer profile In Southern California.

Arden was a net seller of office space in 2003, selling 597,000 sf, with 222,000 sf of that in Los Angeles County. The locally based REIT bought only 101,000 sf in 2003, none of it in the county. This year, however, Arden could turn out to be a net buyer. "We'd like to buy at least $150 million worth in 2004, but whether we will turn out to be net buyers or not remains to be seen because we may make some dispositions to take advantage of the strong market," Stern tells GlobeSt.com.

Lee's newly acquired World Trade Center is a 10-story office building that was completed in 1975 and covers an entire city block. "We feel very positive about the Downtown market," Lee tells GlobeSt.com. As reasons for his optimism, he cites the "synergy that is being created by the Staples Center," along with the conversions of commercial buildings into housing, plus the return of banking and insurance companies into the Downtown core. He says Jamison believes L.A. will achieve its goal of becoming a 24-hour city.

Grubb & Ellis broker Shannon notes that Lee also gained a large Downtown parking concession in his purchase of the World Trade Center. Shannon says the parking that goes with the office project was a huge component of the deal, and a big driver of the price." The trade center property includes 1,622 parking spaces, a big revenue-producer for the owner, Shannon explains. The project's 372,790 sf consists of a two-story concourse of 176,750 sf including retail and office space, plus a 196,040-sf office tower. Lee has retained Grubb & Ellis for leasing and management of the property.