Brookfield’s Gas Company Tower Slated For August Auction
A Downtown Los Angeles property that Brookfield turned over to receivership about a year ago is slated to hit the auction block next month.
The Gas Company Tower’s lenders scheduled a foreclosure auction for the 52-story high-rise on Aug. 16, The Real Deal reported, citing a notice filed with Los Angeles County last week.
Citi Real Estate and Morgan Stanley lent $350M in CMBS debt for the property and initiated the foreclosure on the building, TRD reported.
The property at 555 W. Fifth St. could skip the auction block if an attractive offer presents itself before the auction. JLL, which is marketing the building for sale, put out a call for bids on the property last week, according to TRD.
One buyer that has expressed interest is South Korea-based Meritz Investment Management, which also holds a $65M mezzanine loan on the property, TRD reported.
Barring that, the CMBS bondholders, through Morgan Stanley and Citi, could take back the property at auction.
Subsidiaries of the entity Brookfield DTLA Fund Office Trust Investor defaulted on $465M worth of loans for the building in February 2023. The Gas Company Tower was most recently appraised at $214.5M, a more than 60% drop from a 2021 valuation of the property, according to TRD.
Brookfield’s Downtown office portfolio, which includes a collection of notable high-rises in Downtown’s core, continues to have financial troubles. Earlier this month, a $400M loan on Brookfield’s Bank of America Plaza transferred to special servicing in anticipation of a large tenant move-out at the end of the year.
