A nimble leasing team managed to rearrange the space in one of downtown Los Angeles' tallest office towers to make room for a new tenant and score a landmark lease at a time of climbing vacancy.
CIM Group's in-house leasing team, in association with JLL, developed a leasing strategy and plan for Southern California Gas Co. to leave its longtime headquarters in the financial district for CIM's City National 2CAL office tower in Bunker Hill, even though the building did not have enough contiguous vacancy to accommodate the move at the time.
The 1.4 million-square-foot, 52-story 2Cal Plaza at 350 S. Grand Ave. has had City National Bank as its largest tenant with naming and signage rights since December 2016. CIM approached City National to give back some space and naming rights, which allowed CIM Group to sweeten the deal for SoCalGas while still keeping City National.
The negotiations ultimately allowed CIM Group to offer SoCalGas seven floors of office space along with a ground-floor suite. The deal has won a 2025 CoStar Impact Award, as voted on by judges with knowledge of the market.
The deal plays "a key role in the continued revitalization of the Bunker Hill neighborhood," said judge Kitty Wallace, senior vice president at Colliers.
About the deal: SoCalGas inked a 198,553-square-feet lease at 2CAL, the largest new office lease in downtown Los Angeles in 2024.
What the judges said: "CIM's ability to fund the transaction sets them apart among the other illiquid landlords," said judge Ted Simpson, founder and CEO of CREA.
They made it happen: Geno St. John III, vice president of leasing at CIM Group; JLL Managing Directors Peter Hajimihalis and Hayley Blockley; and CBRE Vice Chairman Clay Hammerstein and Senior Vice President Danny Rees.