Big Lease, Big Sign Coming Downtown

For the first time since assuming its place on the Downtown LA skyline in 1991, The Gas Company Tower will sport corporate signage atop the 52-story building. (At first, we thought it was weird to not know who you are for your first 23 years of life. Then we realized, everyone has that problem.)

Here's the catch. It won't say SoCalGas. Brookfield Office Properties SVP western region John Barganski tells us that Deloitte, the tower's new 113k SF tenant, will get its name on the north and south sides of the parapet. Deloitte was in the market at the time Brookfield closed the MPG acquisition last October, which allowed the company to start negotiations with the accounting giant quickly. The 15-year lease includes expansion rights as well as options to extend. At the time of the acquisition, the occupancy level at the 1.3M SF Gas Company Tower was in the low 60% range. With Deloitte and a few more, including a two-floor, 54k SF expansion by namesake tenant Southern California Gas Co, it's now 80%.

Brookfield EVP western region Bert Dezzutti says the office landlord enjoys a long-standing relationship with Deloitte across the globe. This latest transaction brings the company's total leasing tally for its Downtown LA office portfolio to 223k SF since the first of the year.

Deloitte's current LA office is Two California Plaza (above). John anticipates the firm will be relocating around year's end. (Save money on movers by just having Santa pick up everything.) Because Brookfield has worked with Deloitte in other markets, the company was familiar with its requirements. Still, John adds, it was important to get Deloitte comfortable that the building and systems could accommodate the tenant's buildout and operations because the firm will have a higher density occupancy than at its current location.