U.S. Bank Tower, 633 West 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA
Singapore-based property developer Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) Limited has reportedly agreed to sell the U.S. Bank Tower for $430 million. The long-awaited sale and purchase agreement was announced last week. The buyer is USBT Property Owner LP, which is an institutional purchaser that has ties to major commercial real estate investor Silverstein Properties, reported Commercial Observer.
OUE began marketing the property at the beginning of 2019, seeking bids of approximately $700 million at the time. Encompassing more than 1.4 million square feet of trophy office space in Downtown Los Angeles, the property was estimated to command roughly $500 per square foot.
Beringia Centra — a wholly owned subsidiary of OUE that is, in turn, controlled by Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group — first purchased the iconic Los Angeles property in 2013 from MPG Office trust for $368 million. Following the acquisition, the company invested nearly $100 million in renovating and improving the 30-year-old Los Angeles skyline icon. The investment drew big names to the tenant roster, including Mitsubishi Corp., national law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, and Regus.
Skyline King on Bunker Hill
Completed in the early 1990s, the skyscraper now known as the U.S. Bank Tower previously bore the titles of Library Tower and First Interstate World Center. A timeless highlight of American post-modern architecture, the tower was designed by Henry N. Cobb and rises 1,018 feet above West 5th Street. It was the first supertall skyscraper to be built in the Western United States. Its unique figure in the Los Angeles skyline is a reflection of the engineering finesse within, which made it possible to build what was then the tallest structure to be erected in a seismically active area.
U.S. Bank Tower was the tallest building in the Los Angeles skyline for 27 years, until it was surpassed by Wilshire Grand Center in 2017.
Upon completion, the 75-floor high-rise was the tallest building in California, second-tallest west of the Mississippi and 14th-tallest in the country. OUE added to the value of the tower’s height by designing an open-air viewing platform atop the building’s distinctive crown. OUE Skyspace LA offers 360-degree panoramic views of the region and is accompanied by Skyslide. Built nearly 1,000 feet above the Financial District, Skyslide is a fully enclosed, 45-foot long, all-glass adventure landing on the exterior of the tower.
Although it’s no longer the tallest building in California, the U.S. Bank Tower has remained one of the most prized assets on the Los Angeles office market throughout the economic cycles of recent decades. The building incorporates more than 1.3 million rentable square feet of Class A+, LEED Gold-certified Los Angeles office space. Floor plates range from 9,635 square feet to 26,345 square feet. The property includes retail space on the first two above-grade floors, as well as on floor 71. Additionally, six below-grade parking levels offer a total of 1,396 spaces.
