William “Tripp” Gantt, the CEO of MUST’s manager, said at the REIT’s FY2023 ended December 2023 results briefing on Feb 8 that “the distress in Downtown LA has been pretty well-publicised”. “A lot of owners have handed keys back to the banks; some of the properties in Downtown LA are actually bankowned right now.”
Late in March, Bloomberg reported US office property transactions in Downtown Los Angeles are at rock-bottom prices, including the office building at 777 South Figueroa. This is near a property owned by Manulife US REIT (MUST) (SGX:BTOU
) since its IPO.
Also in Downtown LA, the Gas Company Tower on 555 West 5th St, a property owned by “an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management” is facing foreclosure. According to Bloomberg, this property was appraised in 2020 at US$632 million based on a note by Barclays and the current valuation could be as low as US$141 psf ($191 psf), valuing the building at US$200 million.
