Representing the seller were David Hasbrouck, Richard Plummer and John Eichler of Cushman & Wakefield, while the buyer was represented in house by Aaron Yashouafar and Safai served as consultant. Safai tells GlobeSt.com that buyer Milbank also owns a nearby 285,000-sf building at 727 Seventh St. that it has put on the market, with Safai as the listing agent, asking $30 million. Milbank plans to move its headquarters out of the 727 St. building and into the 660 S. Figueroa St. property, Safai says.

"It will be a great multifamily conversion for a potential buyer," Safai says of the Seventh Street building.

The purchase price of approximately $225 per sf that Milbank paid for the 660 S. Figueroa building was "way below replacement cost," Safai notes. The 660 S. Figueroa building was constructed in 1989 at a cost of more than $105 million by HF Ahmanson & Co., parent of Home Savings of America, which was acquired in 1999 by Washington Mutual.

"This is a building you just wouldn't and couldn't build today, especially not for the price," Safai says. Milbank plans to occupy about 20,000 sf of the 660 S. Figueroa building, which will increase the occupancy to approximately 98%. Permanent financing for the acquisition was provided by Deutsche Bank Mortgage Capital, with David Norris of Continental Real Estate Service representing the buyer in obtaining financing.

The Downtown L.A. office building was one of three Los Angeles area office sales closed recently by Safai, including a free-standing, single-story, 55,000-sf office at 2221 Park Place in El Segundo that brought $231 per sf, or $12.8 million. Sandstone Properties bought the El Segundo building from 2221 Park Place Associates. Northrop occupies the entire building on a lease with six years remaining. Safai describes the property as a specialty building with more than $125 per sf in tenant improvements.

The other transaction was Van Nuys-based Decron Properties' purchase of a six-story, 86,000-sf multi-tenant office building at 6222 Wilshire Blvd. from Oaktree Capital for $14.5 million. Decron will move its corporate headquarters into the building, which Madison Partners has been leasing and has increased to 80% occupancy. The move-in of Decron will bring the office building to about 92% occupancy, with the remaining space to be filled by other tenants.