Interpublic Group Inks Largest Century City Office Deal in a Decade
After Bisnow first reported the pending deal in June, NY-based Interpublic Group of Cos (IPG) has inked a very opportunistic 11-year deal for 150k SF at The Plaza, a two-tower, LEED Silver office complex at 1840 Century Park E in Century City. While the value of this transaction was undisclosed, industry sources estimate it's in excess of $70M.
We caught up with Newmark Grubb Knight Frank managing director Steven D. Kolsky Friday (pictured left with Michael Arnold holding the trophy their team won at the LA Commercial Real Estate Association Broker Challenge in September), who tells us a series of company moves and consolidations has resulted in a lot of vacant office space in Century City. “As a result, we were able to capitalize on an advantageous window in this market and negotiate a deal significantly below market rent,” he says, noting that the average Class-A office rent in Century City is $4.50/SF.
Along with Steven, IPG was repped by managing director Michael P. Arnold and executive managing director Henry S. Kobrin. CBRE’s Bryan Dunne repped the landlord.
IPG will move its 10 marketing, advertising and public relations firms and their 700 employees from the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood to space at The Plaza in November 2016. This includes PMK•BNC, Weber Shandwick, Rogers & Cowan, Jack Morton, Octagon, FRUKT, Advantage International, The Axis Agency, Dailey and Campbell Ewald.
The deal includes building naming rights for PMK•BNC, the largest of the 10 firms, and one of the other companies on two sides of the towers.
PMK•BNC CEO Michael Nyman says Century City is the perfect move because it provides the firm and all of the IPG agencies the opportunity to completely build out new space. “We plan to create a modern, collaborative environment for our 200-plus staff members," he says. PMK•BNC will occupy three of IPG’s eight full floors in the 19-story tower. IPG companies will also occupy space in the 15-story sister tower.
Steven says the main reason for the move was to provide each of Interpublic’s 10 companies an opportunity to build out a creative workspace that fits its culture and vision for a collaborative environment. He notes The Plaza has top-notch management that's working to make tenants feel like guests. Building amenities include a bike checkout and valet service, free local shuttle service, courtyard spaces with WiFi, and a café and other retail services on the ground level. The location also is within an easy walk of the Century City Westfield mall and dozens of eateries.
