KKR Opening First Los Angeles Office, Growing California Footprint
Alternative asset manager KKR & Co. opened a new office in Los Angeles as part of its plan to capitalize on opportunities it sees in California.
The office in Los Angeles will be KKR's third in the state, joining offices in San Francisco and Silicon Valley's Menlo Park.
“Real estate markets are going through a combination of repricing and deleveraging,” KKR Global Head of Real Estate Ralph Rosenberg told Bloomberg.
California is “where the action is going to be, and that’s where the opportunities are going to come,” he said.
Rosenberg also referenced California's position as one of the world’s largest economies and home of thriving entertainment, defense, healthcare and logistics industries as other reasons KKR sought to expand in the state.
"Our teams have been spending a lot of time in LA and we have built a strong real estate investment business across the Pacific and Southwestern U.S.," Rosenberg said in a statement. "Having a permanent presence in LA serves as a natural extension of our existing footprint in Northern California and brings more of our team closer to some of our clients."
Late last year, KKR pulled back on a much bigger expansion it was planning in Manhattan, which would have involved 300K SF of offices in a consolidation of its New York footprint.
KKR's new offices will be in Century City's Century Park office complex. The trio of towers is owned by Hines and the JPMorgan Chase-managed Commingled Pension Trust Fund, Commercial Observer previously reported. Rosenberg told Bloomberg it will have room for 25 to 30 employees.
KKR has about $65B of assets under management and originated $12B of commercial mortgages last year, according to Bloomberg.
Last week, KKR was reportedly considering foreclosing on a Mountain View office property co-owned by Goldman Sachs and TMG Partners. KKR loaned $200M to the owners in 2021 for the purchase of the building but more recently elevated the debt on the property to its highest-risk category.
UPDATE, AUG. 1, 2:40 P.M. PT: This story has been updated with information from KKR.
