“I believe in the future of Downtown Los Angeles”: Silverstein closes US Bank Tower buy

WTC developer plans “comprehensive capital improvement program” for first LA property

OUE Limited executive chairman and CEO Stephen Riady and Silverstein Properties’ Larry Silverstein, with US Bank Tower at 633 West Fifth Street (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images, and Wikipedia)
OUE Limited executive chairman and CEO Stephen Riady and Silverstein Properties’ Larry Silverstein, with US Bank Tower at 633 West Fifth Street (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images, and Wikipedia)

Silverstein Properties closed on its $430 million deal to buy US Bank Tower, an iconic Downtown Los Angeles property whose purchase price was far below initial expectations.

New York-based Silverstein made the announcement on Wednesday. The company was first confirmed to be the buyer of the 73-story trophy office tower in July.

In a statement, chairman Larry Silverstein said: “I believe in the future of Downtown Los Angeles.”

He added that over the last few years, DTLA “has started to transform into a 24/7 community, with new residential buildings, restaurants, and bars — much like Lower Manhattan in the years after 9/11.”

The seller was Singapore-based investment management firm OUE Limited, which had put the 1.4 million-square-foot property on the market in early 2019.

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OUE had acquired the property for $367.5 million in 2013, and valued it at about $633 million in its latest annual report. The sales price reflects the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the seller noted in July.

Silverstein is planning comprehensive capital improvements to the property “to provide building tenants with a creative office campus in a vertical urban environment.” The company is also launching “INSPIRE, its hospitality-focused tenant experience program and mobile app designed to help tenants get the most out of their workday.”

According to previous disclosures to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Silverstein plans to finance about 55 percent of its US Bank Tower acquisition and capital improvement costs with a three-year loan at an interest rate of Libor plus 3.4 percent, with two one-year extension options. No specific lender was named.

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