DTLA’s Union Bank Plaza Trades for Second Time in Two-and-a-Half Years

Newmark arranged the sale of 445 S. Figueroa St., a 40-story office tower in Downtown Los Angeles. Historically known as “Union Bank Plaza,” the property sold for $80 million, having previously traded in March 2022.

A Newmark investment sales team of Kevin Shannon, Ken White, Rob Hannan, Laura Stumm, Michael Moll, Bill Bloodgood, Chris Benton and Anthony Muhlstein, as well as co-president of Global Debt & Structured Finance Jonathan Firestone, represented the seller, W/B Union Plaza Holdings, LLC. Newmark also represented Washington Capital Management, which acted on behalf of the Southwest Carpenters Pension Trust. The pension trust intends to occupy a portion of the building and stabilize the balance via lease-up.

W/B Union Plaza Holdings, LLC purchased Union Bank Plaza from KBS in March 2022 for $110.5 million, in a deal also brokered by Newmark, but reduced its basis substantially after receiving a large lease termination payout from Union Bank after the company merged with US Bank and relocated to US Bank Tower.

“This was a win-win transaction for the buyer and seller,” Shannon said. He noted that the buyer paid $100 per square foot for “an institutionally renovated office tower,” while the seller also realized “a substantial return, given the greatly reduced cost basis due to the Union Bank lease buyout.”