The Jamison-owned Equitable Plaza in Koreatown saw its value plummet by about 62 percent.
The latest appraisal put the office tower’s estimated value at about $58 million, compared to $150.5 million in 2014, when Jamison landed its loan, according to Morningstar Credit. (The appraisal is dated last August, but the value was not reported in deal documents until this month, per Morningstar.)
That comes out to around $80 per square foot, compared to $200-plus per square foot more than a decade ago. Jamison did not respond to a request for comment.
This also means the tower is now believed to be worth less than its loan balance. The $95 million note on the real estate at 3435 Wilshire Boulevard has a current balance of about $75 million, per Morningstar.
The offices are only 53 percent occupied, according to Morningstar data.
Jamison defaulted on its loan in late 2024, and it has stayed in special servicing since. Servicer commentary via Morningstar indicates that Jamison and its lender entered into a forbearance agreement, which included a new June maturity date, while Jamison worked on a refinance.
That maturity was pushed when the lender agreed to an extension of the forbearance agreement so that Jamison could land takeout financing. The payoff date is now Oct. 6, according to the servicer commentary. The special servicer LNR declined to comment.
The debt is one of multiple special-serviced loans on Koreatown real estate sponsored by Dr. David Lee, the founder of the family company. In any case, the Equitable Plaza value drop is comparable to what’s happening in downtown Los Angeles, where an iconic tower recently traded for $150 per square foot, compared to the pre-pandemic normal of about $450 per square foot. The Mid-Wilshire market, which Koreatown tends to fall under, has an about 30 percent office vacancy rate; downtown Los Angeles has a 32 percent vacancy rate, per Colliers’ reports.
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