Architecture firm KGTY signed a 15,700-square foot lease in the newly renovated Trust Building in downtown Los Angeles. The company―ranked one of the top architecture firms in Los Angeles, with regional offices in Chicago, Denver, Irvine and Oakland―plans to relocate its Playa Vista office to the seventh floor of the 351,000-square-foot office property at 433 South Spring Street by the first quarter of 2020.
Lee & Associates’ Gary McArdell represented KGTY, while Mike Condon Jr., Kelli Snyder, Peter B. Collins, Scott Menkus, and Brianna Demus of Cushman & Wakefield negotiated on behalf of the owner―a joint venture between Rising Realty Partners and Lionstone Investments.
Formerly known as the Title Insurance and Trust Building, the 11-story, downtown Los Angeles office space was acquired by its current owners in 2016 for $80.4 million, or $229 per square foot. The joint venture then invested $40 million to breathe new life into the Art Deco-style property.
The Trust Building at 433 South Spring Street, Los Angeles
Built in 1928 by architects John and Donald Parkinson, the building features murals by Hugo Ballin along Spring Street. Preservation work on the Trust Building by the Architectural Resources Group involved cleaning the terra cotta façade, as well as restoring the banking hall and main lobby to their 1930s glory. The property also has a concierge, valet parking and a roof deck.
For many years, the building was part of a string of properties in the declining Historic Core; the neighborhood once known as the “Wall Street of the West” was hit hard by the inevitable sprawl that followed the construction of the highway system in the 1950s and 1960s. But, by 1975, even Title Insurance and Trust had moved its headquarters from its namesake building on Spring Street.
Between 1989 and 1993, the Trust Building housed the Los Angeles Central Library. Until recently, it was also a prime filming location for Hollywood productions―such as “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Master” and “Divergent”―and TV shows, including “Mad Men,” “NCIS” and “Agents of Shield.”
