Newmark 1 announces flex office provider IWG has signed a 38,383-square-foot lease for its Spaces brand at 811 West 7th Street (the historic “Fine Arts” Building) in downtown Los Angeles. Newmark Managing Director Gibran Begum represented the asset owner, Manchester Capital Management, LLC in the transaction.
Spaces will occupy 38,383 square feet on the top four floors of the building, which includes the unique penthouse space featuring a fireplace. The space was formerly occupied by WeWork, with this transaction representing the second former WeWork location IWG has leased in Los Angeles this year. Spaces will complete minor renovations to the space and plans to open in early summer 2022.
“As a premiere flex office provider, IWG’s Spaces brand was a natural fit for the iconic Fine Arts Building, which has provided tenants some of the finest collaborative creative space in Downtown,” said Begum.
Located at the crossroads of 7th Street and Figueroa and Flower Streets in the Central Business District (CBD), the Fine Arts Building is a historic and iconic 12-story office building measuring approximately 116,000 square feet. The transaction highlights the ongoing trend of traditional CBD tenants’ focus on securing best-in-class historically significant low-rise office buildings.
Begum added, “With hybrid employee schedules and post-pandemic considerations, time-tested buildings like Fine Arts are well-suited to adapt to tenant’s evolving office requirements.”
According to Newmark Research, net absorption in the Los Angeles office market registered 452,549 square feet during the first quarter of 2022, the second consecutive quarter of positive absorption for the market. The pandemic has had multiple impacts on commercial real estate, with the growing popularity of low-rise campus style product being one of the principal narratives. Creative, collaborative space continues to be in demand, and many occupiers are eyeing high- end spaces to attract employees back to the office.
