Creative Agency Acquires Former Little Tokyo Bank For New LA Office

A creative agency has made a splash in Little Tokyo with its purchase of a newly renovated creative office that dates back to the 1980s. 

Buck Design, which has offices in New York, Sydney, Amsterdam and LA's Lincoln Heights, bought the building from Beverly Hills-based private investment company Brickstar Capital. The agency paid $26.5M, according to sources with knowledge of the sale.

Buck Design will move into the approximately 80K SF space after tenant renovations on the building are complete, according to CBRE, which brokered the deal.  

“This transaction is just one of many in which larger tenants have decided to relocate to Downtown Los Angeles this year in order to take advantage of unique, move-in-ready creative office space,”  CBRE Senior Vice President Phillip Sample said in a statement. 

Brickstar, which focuses on value-add real estate investments on the West Coast, bought the building at 120 South San Pedro St. about five years ago from Union Bank, paying $15M, public records show. The company then invested in a comprehensive renovation to convert the site into a creative office space, targeting media, tech and design firms as prospective tenants. 

New patio space, a gym and an upgraded lobby were among property additions. 

Little Tokyo's residents recently welcomed a brand-new, years-in-the-making community center, the Terasaki Budokan. A massive public transportation project, the Metro Regional Connector, is also underway in the region with an opening date scheduled for this year. 

Brickstar retains ownership of the building directly across the street from 120 San Pedro that holds a ground-floor Chase Bank, according to its website. 

Sample, along with CBRE's Taylor Watson, Brad Chelf, Chris Caras, Michael Shustak and Ryan Phillips represented Brickstar Capital in the transaction. Buck Design was represented by Lee & Associates' Jack Cline, Doug Cline and Evan Jurgensen.