Downtown Los Angeles’ office market has struggled since the pandemic, but a slew of new leases in the central business district over the past few years reveal growing signs of recovery.
Bank of Hope is the latest of the handful of firms moving east to Downtown instead of to the Westside. The L.A.-based bank inked a roughly 50,000-square-foot headquarters lease at Carolwood’s Aon Center, 62-story tower at 707 Wilshire Boulevard. The tenant is relocating from Jamison’s 3200 Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown, though the size of its footprint there was not immediately clear.
Colliers’ Matthew Heyn and Ian Gilbert announced the signing after brokering the lease on behalf of Carolwood. Avison Young’s Hayden Eaves represented Bank of Hope.
“Opportunities to secure best-in-class, hospitality-forward office space within a Class A asset such as this are rare, particularly in the core of Downtown,” Heyn said in a statement.
Downtown L.A.’s office vacancy was still nearly 32 percent at the end of last year, according to a fourth-quarter market report by Colliers, and has trended upward since at least 2022. Yet, recently renovated, highly amenitized spaces, such as Aon Center and Silverstein’s U.S. Bank Tower, have fared far better than their Class B peers.
Carolwood purchased the 1.1 million-square-foot building in 2023 for about $148 million, or roughly 45 percent less than what seller Shorenstein paid for it in 2014. Yet Shorenstein completed substantial renovations to the property in 2020, including a new three-story lobby, a fitness center and state-of-the-art conference rooms. Not long after Carolwood’s purchase, California Bank & Trust inked a nearly 29,000-square-foot headquarters lease at the building.
“Bank of Hope’s decision to anchor its headquarters at 707 Wilshire reflects the ongoing flight to quality we’re seeing across the market,” Gilbert said in a statement. “Tenants remain highly selective, prioritizing buildings that offer elevated experiences, efficient layouts and long-term value. This building continues to outperform because it delivers on all fronts — location, amenities and brand presence.”
Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.
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