Wedbush Securities puts DTLA headquarters up for sublease

Securities firm had 100K sf and naming rights at Cerberus building on Wilshire Boulevard

Wedbush Securities CEO Gary Wedbush, Cerberus' Lee Millstein (right) and 1000 Wilshire Boulevard
Wedbush Securities CEO Gary Wedbush, Cerberus' Lee Millstein (right) and 1000 Wilshire Boulevard (Facebook, Cerberus, LPC West)

Wedbush Securities has put its Downtown L.A. office up for sublease, The Real Deal has learned, at a time when landlords are trying to hold onto tenants in the central business district. 

The investment bank and securities brokerage has listed about 100,000 square feet at Cerberus Capital Management’s 1000 Wilshire Boulevard for sublease, according to marketing materials obtained by TRD. A team run by Newmark’s David Kluth and Steven Salas is marketing the sublease. Neither Cerberus nor Wedbush responded to a request for comment.

Wedbush holds a lease on the property through 2025, according to the marketing brochure. The asking rate for the sublease is negotiable, though direct monthly asking rents for office space in Downtown L.A. in the first quarter were $3.75 per square foot, according to Savills. 

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The building, with its architecturally notable curved structure and multicolored stone exterior visible from the 110 Freeway, currently serves as Wedbush’s headquarters and is named the Wedbush Center. 

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Cerberus bought the 476,500-square-foot building in 2018 from LPC West for $196 million, or about $411 per square foot, records show.

At the time of the sale, the property was about 86 percent leased to tenants including Wedbush, which was considered its anchor tenant. 

If Wedbush exits, it would increase vacancy at the building by about 21 percent. 

Though a sublease does not add office space back to the market immediately, it signals a company is not interested in occupying the space through its lease term and may lead to future vacancy if another company does not pick up the lease. 

About 10.4 million square feet of office space was available for sublease across Los Angeles in the first quarter, according to a Savills report, with about 14 percent of that space in Downtown L.A. 

Before the pandemic in 2019, about 4 million square feet was on the market for sublease.