Eastdil Secured has zeroed in on 601W as a buyer for a distressed, Brookfield-owned office tower on Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles.
The New York City-based investment company is in talks to purchase the mortgage loan on 333 South Grand Avenue, which encompasses Wells Fargo Center — North Tower and the retail spot connected to it, for $180 million, knowledgeable sources in the downtown Los Angeles office sector said. The deal has not closed, according to an informed source.
A $180 million deal for the 54-story, 1.4-million-square-foot office tower at the northern part of L.A.’s Financial District, comes out to about $130 per square foot. That doesn’t account for the three-story retail atrium, which is another 60,000 square feet. Either way, it is nowhere near the debt of $506 million or so that’s in default on the Wells Fargo Center’s North Tower.
Eastdil declined to comment. Neither Brookfield nor 601W responded to requests for comment.
The sister Wells Fargo Center — South tower is not included in the deal; Newmark is shopping that one.
Late last year, there were four Brookfield-related offerings that accounted for almost a fifth of Class A office space throughout downtown’s Financial District, including Bunker Hill: EY Plaza, Bank of America Plaza and Wells Fargo Center, the twin tower skyscraper complex.
The near-deal on the North Tower could fall through — a turn that came to pass last year on Carolwood’s $130 million deal to purchase EY Plaza at 725 South Figueroa Street, another office building owned by Brookfield, but in a receiver’s hands. Carolwood’s deal collapsed in due diligence. The note later came back to market and there are rumblings of a deal.
The Well Fargo North Tower is 61 percent leased, and the Halo, the retail property, is only 35 percent leased, according to an earlier marketing memorandum. The distressed debt on the real estate includes a mezzanine loan from Oaktree Capital Management, in which Brookfield owns a controlling interest. Brookfield could own Oaktree entirely if its bid to acquire the remaining interest in Oaktree, which was once headquartered at the North Tower, goes through.
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