By Annlee Ellingson | L.A. Business First
Five companies have signed new leases totaling 72,000 square feet at the U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles.
Walter P. Moore, an international civil engineering firm, has signed a 10-year lease for nearly 9,400 square feet on the 72nd floor, which, as the highest leased office floor in California, is known for its views. The company will move from its current location at 707 Wilshire Blvd. to its new home next summer.
Not quite as high up, a global management consulting firm has signed a 12-year deal to move from Century City and occupy 19,000 square feet on the 69th and 70th floors.
Global investment bank Lincoln International, which currently is located on the 66th floor, is expanding to the 67th as well in a 10-year lease for 27,000 square feet.
That move dislocates Rothschild & Co., a multinational investment bank and financial services company, from the 67th floor to the 50th, where it will occupy nearly 8,500 square feet.
And Morgan & Morgan, the country’s largest personal injury law firm, is opening its first office in Los Angeles with a 7,600-square-foot lease on the 22nd floor.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
“Leading firms in dynamic industries like these recognize the enduring strategic and cultural value of locating in vibrant urban centers like DTLA,” said Suzanne Holley, president and CEO of the Downtown Center Business Improvement District.
$60 million makeover
The leases come as the building’s owner, Silverstein Properties, is nearing completion of a $60 million renovation of the property.
Designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and completed in 1989 by Maguire Properties, the 1,018-foot U.S. Bank Tower is the second-tallest building in Los Angeles.
A Class A office property located at the foot of Bunker Hill near the Pershing Square Metro station, the 1.4 million-square-foot building has 72 floors of office space plus six levels of underground parking. Tenants include U.S. Bank, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith and Marsh USA.
Silverstein acquired the high-rise in July 2020 for $430 million — a steep discount from the $700 million asking price sought when it was put up for sale the year before.
The U.S. Bank Tower marked Silverstein's entrée into the Los Angeles market, and the New York-based firm announced in May 2021 that it would upgrade and reposition the skyscraper to attract both traditional and creative office tenants.