SANTA MONICA—The office building located at 520 Broadway has a new owner who paid $117 million, approximately $1,040 per square foot, for the structure.

Olive Hill Group LLC purchased the building, which was originally built in 1982, from the Tishman Speyer company. Eastdil Secured worked as Olive Hill Group’s broker and Steven Edwards and Grace Winters of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP acted as legal support for Tishman Speyer. Artisan Realty Owners acted as the seller.

The building changed hands a few times in recent years, as it was only purchased by Tishman Speyer two years ago. It was previously owned by Vornado Realty Trust who purchased the property after it went into foreclosure. Vornado spent around $61 million on the structure and another $13.2 million to renovate the building.

Since its renovation, the structure received the “Outstanding Building of the Year” award from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Great Los Angeles twice, once in 2014 and again in 2017. It is one of only 15 “class A” buildings in Santa Monica, meaning it is one of the highest quality buildings in the city. According to the BOMA website, a class A building is “prestigious” and has “high quality standard finishes, state of the art systems, exceptional accessibility and a definite market presence.”

The building is also within walking distance of the Santa Monica Light Rail Station, as well as Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place. At the time of its purchase, the building was occupied with over 82 percent of tenants including Microsoft, WeWork, and the renewable energy company, SolarReserve. Due to rising rent costs and the city of Santa Monica’s development limits, there are no new proposed office spaces in the region.

Tim Lee, the Vice President of Olive Hill Group spoke to Commercial Property Executive about the purchase of 520 Broadway stating, “Santa Monica is emerging as a hub for growth in the technology, entertainment, and digital information industries, and is already home to some of the largest tech firms in the country… This acquisition presents a strong opportunity for us to acquire a property in an extremely supply-constrained region of L.A. that will continue to see high demand and rent growth over the next several years.”