High-rise penthouses sit empty in downtown L.A., relics from a different era

[marmar]

from the LA Times:



The chief executives at Atlantic Richfield Co., the oil company once based in Los Angeles, ran their international empire from some of the most regal corporate offices ever created in Southern California.

With Arco's 20-foot ceilings, dark wood paneling and private rooftop helipad, "this was corporate America as people thought of it," said Kent Handleman of Thomas Properties Group Inc., the building's landlord.

That was then. Nowadays, the landlord can't find a renter for the space's 1970s-era sumptuousness.

There are also plenty of other catbird seats for choosy chief executives to pick from. Penthouse office floors with drop-dead views are vacant in some of the best office buildings in Los Angeles County, a sign of the troubled economic times and the gulf between what landlords think their top-shelf product is worth and what tenants are willing to pay.

--Roger Vincent


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/highrise-penthouses-sit-empty-in-downtown-la-relics-from-a-different-era.html

[napi21]

1. One line in your post says it all!

the gulf between what landlords think their top-shelf product is worth and what tenants are willing to pay.

I'm sure these landlords are trying to rent the spaces for top dollar. Granted, it's worth a lot of bucks, but if it sits empty, it;s worth NOTHING!

[MicaelS]

2. I can't undertand people with that mentality...

Some money coming in, is better than none coming in.

[RKP5637]

3. They might be leveraging the tax write-off against other more lucrative properties. n/t

[napi21]

4. That could be true as long as they are a multi state realestate owner

but if their primary focus is in large cities like LA, Chg, NY, if they play that game in all of them in a bad economy, their strategy is wrong and won't work.

[Obamanaut]

12. This is also true for folks who say they would rather not work at all

than do job 'x' for 'y' amount of dollars.

Better to have some income than none at all.

[aquart]

5. Well, except for the tax write-off.

[Cleita]

6. It is downtown LA, which would never be the

dream of Manhattan that those idiots had. Californians, even those from back east, prefer the beach or the hilly canyons and they don't want any phallic high buildings obstructing their ocean view, ocean breeze and sun.

[flamingdem]

7. Downtown is not that glamorous, LA Live etc were overhyped imo nt

[JI7]

8. downtown LA smells like Urine

[thelordofhell]

9. It actually smells like bongwater

The last couple of times I've been there, I had to wash my clothes to get the weed smell out of them. L.A. has turned into a giant bong.

[flamingdem]

10. rilly? like why? nt

[Jack_DeLeon]

11. I'll take it off thier hands for $5.

[Blue_Tires]

13. I liked that office shower 'built for two' with a remote controlled door

I want a quote on one of those for my cube playpen...