Gas Company Tower Now Valued At $270M, A 57% Drop From 2021
The Gas Company Tower was valued at a whopping $632M in 2021, but the value of the 52-story Downtown property has fallen to less than half that.
The tower, owned by a Brookfield fund focused on Downtown LA offices, has been valued at $270M, The Real Deal reported, citing data from Trepp and Morningstar Credit.
The updated value of the building is well below the $465M in loans Brookfield has on the tower. The Gas Company Tower has been in receivership since April. Subsidiaries of Brookfield DTLA Fund Office Trust Investor defaulted on the $465M worth of loans for the building at 555 West Fifth St., Bisnow reported in February.
Across Los Angeles, it is anticipated that many office buildings will see their values drop significantly as the combined effects of remote work, high interest rates and slowed leasing take hold. Another Downtown office property, the PacMutual building at 523 West Sixth St., was appraised this year at 20% less than its 2021 valuation, The Real Deal reported.
Los Angeles isn't alone. Class-A office property values are down 35% on average from their pre-pandemic peak, according to GlobeSt, citing Green Street data. Falling valuations are a result of economic turmoil and reduced office usage, which have resulted in owners defaulting on loans.
Brookfield has been one of the highest-profile companies to struggle with plunging office values. It has handed back keys to properties in New York and Chicago in addition to Los Angeles.
In Denver, a property partially owned by Brookfield called Republic Plaza saw its value fall by 44% in the last 10 years, Bisnow reported. The company and its co-owner, MetLife, modified the loan on the property to remove it from delinquency.
