ESI Ventures Spends $134M For Properties In Fashion District In DTLA
Call it a fashionable venture to create a creative mixed-use office campus in downtown Los Angeles.
ESI Ventures Wednesday announced it has completed the acquisition of a third parcel of land at 732 South Main St. to go along with two previously purchased properties in the Fashion District.
ESI and JV partner Urban Offerings purchased the historic Norton building at 755 South Los Angeles St. in 2016 and the Dearden building at 700 Main St. in 2017.
The three properties combined span about 275K SF and cost $134M, company officials said.
ESI officials said with the three acquisitions, the company is well on its wawy to creating a mixed-use development that includes a creative office campus with a rooftop restaurant and bar and ground-floor retail. The City Planning Commission approved the plan in February.
ESI Executive Vice President Brandon Wolsic said in an email the acquisition of the properties in the Fashion District was an opportunity to purchase assets in an area of downtown that is experiencing high levels of growth.
“It also gives us the opportunity to revitalize historic buildings in an area that’s gentrifying,” Wolsic wrote.
The Norton building will soon feature a ground-floor food hall, four floors of office space and a rooftop bar and restaurant. The Dearden will feature 18K SF of ground-floor retail and 100K SF of creative office.
A 38K SF parcel of land at 732 South Main St. will be used as parking and possibly later as an opportunity for future development, the company said.
The improvements for the Norton are slated to be completed by the fourth quarter. The Dearden is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.
“Los Angeles is one of the only core downtown markets in a gateway city with room for growth, and the adaptive reuse of these buildings and land will deliver a tremendous benefit to local business owners and residents in the Fashion District,” Wosic said in a news release.
CBRE’s Andrew Turf will handle the retail leasing, and Lee & Associates will manage the office leasing.
