Capital Group Buys Bunker Hill Skyscraper

Los Angeles money head Capital Group has completed its $210-million acquisition of nan Bunker Hill skyscraper it already occupied arsenic a renter and vows to proceed expanding its downtown presence.

Capital Group was an anchor tenant astatine Bank of America Plaza, which it will now run arsenic a landlord. The 55-story building astatine 333 S. Hope St. was completed successful 1974 and has agelong classed arsenic 1 downtown’s astir salient agency addresses. Capital Group has been headquartered location since 1978.

Bank of America Plaza astatine 333 S. Hope St. was purchased by finance patient Capital Group. The building besides houses nan firm’s headquarters.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The move to bargain nan building astatine a important discount to its erstwhile worth is portion of a shape of well-heeled tenants deciding to go owners alternatively of renters successful caller years arsenic agency spot values plunged owed to nan pandemic and a displacement to distant activity for galore companies.

“We knew nan champion landlord we could perchance person would beryllium ourselves,” said Capital Group Chief Executive Mike Gitlin erstwhile nan waste was first announced successful April.

Bank of America Plaza’s erstwhile owner, Brookfield Properties, defaulted connected a $400 cardinal indebtedness and put nan building connected nan marketplace alternatively of facing foreclosure.

It was nan largest agency waste successful Los Angeles successful 2026 and nan largest successful Los Angeles County since 2023, according to existent property brokerage Colliers, which marketed nan spot connected behalf of nan court-appointed receiver.

Potential buyers competing for Bank of America Plaza included some backstage and organization investors from nan U.S. and overseas, said Mark Schuessler, a agent astatine Colliers.

Capital Group has been headquartered successful downtown Los Angeles since it was founded successful 1931, according to Chief Operating Officer Rob Klausner . “We position it arsenic nan perfect location to put successful arsenic we bring our Los Angeles based teams together,” he said.

Capital Group is nan largest caretaker successful nan building, taking up 350,000 quadrate feet connected 14 floors. It plans to gradually return complete different 5 floors arsenic it consolidates labor from different offices downtown and successful Santa Monica.

“The champion measurement to guarantee a awesome situation successful downtown L.A. is to create what we’re calling a vertical campus” pinch 2,100 employees, Gitlin said. “It was conscionable this unsocial opportunity wherever nan value was overmuch little than it had been historically, and it was for sale.”

Bank of America is besides a ample tenant successful nan building and will proceed to person its sanction connected top. Other occupants see economical consulting patient Analysis Group Inc., rule patient Musick Peeler & Garrett and Alliant Insurance Services.

Capital Group has much than 9,000 labor successful 34 offices successful aggregate countries. It manages $3.4 trillion successful assets for millions of wealthiness guidance and organization clients, a typical said. 

Owner-users person surged arsenic cardinal players successful L.A.’s agency market, now accounting for astir half of each deals, according to existent property information supplier CoStar , while organization investors’ stock of purchases has fallen from 45% to 26%.

Office users from nan nationalist assemblage are among nan buyers. The metropolis of Los Angeles plans to bargain a 35-story building downtown for usage by nan Department of Water and Power.

Manulife U.S. Real Estate Investment Trust said successful April that it would waste its high-rise astatine 865 S. Figueroa St. for $92.5 cardinal pending support from Los Angeles officials. It has an assessed worth of $248 million.

Another awesome nationalist purchaser of a downtown agency building was Los Angeles County, which successful 2024 bought Gas Co. Tower for $200 million, a steep driblet from its $632-million valuation successful 2020. County officials said astatine nan clip that nan foreclosure waste was excessively bully a woody to walk up.

The region is gradually moving workers into nan 55-story skyscraper astatine nan guidelines of Bunker Hill that was wide considered 1 of nan city’s astir desirable agency buildings erstwhile it was completed successful 1991.