LOS ANGELES—CoreTrust set the bar for Los Angeles acquisitions in the first week of the year. The firm has acquired the CitiGroup Center in Downtown Los Angeles from Hines. The sales price was not disclosed, but industry sources unrelated to the deal tell GlobeSt.com that the firm purchased the asset for $336 million. CitiGroup Center is a circe-1981 48-story office tower totaling 914,000 square feet.
John Sischo, a principal at CoreTrust, tells GlobeSt.com that the firm was attracted to the property because of the “quality of the building and its construction, and the fact that it was leased by two major users that never occupied the space.” Wells Fargo and ARCO leased large blocks of space at the property, but never occupied those spaces. “The building was basically frozen in time for 30 years,” Sischo adds. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are also tenants in the building.
CoreTrust purchased the property in a very competitive marketed deal, and paid the highest price to win the asset. “Of course it is competitive, and you win because you pay top-dollar,” says Sischo of the transaction. “We also have a vision that we think other people may not have seen or thought of. We are going to do the majority of our work in the first three years. We are going to build up the lobbies, terraces, and common areas.”
That vision and the firm's reputation for follow through on their plans definitely didn't hurt. The firm has built a reputation in the market for delivering beautiful buildings and attracting the type of tenant base that Downtown wants—and needs. “We started the company three years ago and said that it was going to take us five years to get to this place,” says Sischo. “It has only took us three years to get to where we thought it would take five. We have always had people be supportive of us, and when we tell people that we are going to do something, that is what we do.”
CoreTrust is best known in Los Angeles for its renovation and repositioning of the City National Tower, and the firm is going to execute the same type of value-add business plan at CitiGroup Center with plans to invest and additional $50 million into the asset. “The property is 74% leased, and I think people were just waiting to see who would get the property,” says Sischo. “We have an increased interest in leasing already. This is going to be a really fun project, and it is very classic to what we have done.”
LOS ANGELES—CoreTrust set the bar for Los Angeles acquisitions in the first week of the year. The firm has acquired the
John Sischo, a principal at CoreTrust, tells GlobeSt.com that the firm was attracted to the property because of the “quality of the building and its construction, and the fact that it was leased by two major users that never occupied the space.”
CoreTrust purchased the property in a very competitive marketed deal, and paid the highest price to win the asset. “Of course it is competitive, and you win because you pay top-dollar,” says Sischo of the transaction. “We also have a vision that we think other people may not have seen or thought of. We are going to do the majority of our work in the first three years. We are going to build up the lobbies, terraces, and common areas.”
That vision and the firm's reputation for follow through on their plans definitely didn't hurt. The firm has built a reputation in the market for delivering beautiful buildings and attracting the type of tenant base that Downtown wants—and needs. “We started the company three years ago and said that it was going to take us five years to get to this place,” says Sischo. “It has only took us three years to get to where we thought it would take five. We have always had people be supportive of us, and when we tell people that we are going to do something, that is what we do.”
CoreTrust is best known in Los Angeles for its renovation and repositioning of the City National Tower, and the firm is going to execute the same type of value-add business plan at
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