Citicorp Plaza

Prudential Insurance of America announced that it has bought out Oxford Properties, its 50% partner in the second and third phases of the $650-million office building project in downtown Los Angeles. The price was not disclosed. The first office building--owned jointly by Citicorp, Prudential, Oxford and the law firm of Lillick, McHose & Charles--opened last year. The other two office towers are expected in open in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The separate month-end sales of the Century Plaza Towers in Century City and Citicorp Plaza in downtown Los Angeles are expected to be finalized Monday after months of negotiations, according to people familiar with both deals. Prudential Insurance Co. will complete the sale of the twin 44-story skyscrapers and the adjoining ABC Entertainment Center for about $480 million to an investment group involving pension funds and investment bank J.P. Morgan.

Believers in "7" as a lucky number might have scheduled a ground breaking for the 777 Tower at Citicorp Plaza on Sept. 7, but the ceremony will be held, instead, this Thursday on the corner of South Figueroa and 8th, not 7th, streets. Designed by architect Cesar Pelli, the $300-million, 1-million-square-foot office tower being developed by a joint venture of the Prudential Insurance Co. and MECA Associates (a partnership of an affiliate of Mitsubishi Estate New York Inc. and Ayrshire Corp.

Citicorp Plaza, home of the troubled Seventh Market Place shopping center, may soon be sold in a deal that reflects renewed interest in retail property in downtown Los Angeles. The prospective buyer is Toronto-based TrizecHahn Corp., the West Coast's largest mall operator. TrizecHahn, owner of Arcadia's Santa Anita Fashion Park and Culver City's Fox Hills Mall, could seal the deal for Citicorp Plaza as soon as next month.

Pedestrians in particular may enjoy the show at downtown's $250-million 777 Tower in Citicorp Plaza. Design architect Fred Clarke said the sidewalk in front of the 53-story tower to be built at 8th and Figueroa streets will be "a work of art, with design elements, and possibly color." "It will," he emphasized, "be fun." The sidewalk design will be done in collaboration with an as yet unnamed Los Angeles artist.

A subsidiary of Japanese real estate giant Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. and two other companies have signed an agreement to build two huge new office towers at Citicorp Plaza, one of downtown Los Angeles' most successful commercial complexes. Mitsubishi's involvement in the project will raise the number of downtown buildings owned partially or entirely by Japanese companies to at least 12. Two other projects slated to break ground within the next year will also involve Japanese firms.

Spring is upon us with a gentle vengeance. This season should come at the beginning of the year instead of sneaking in three months late. It makes us feel things are getting better. Well, the drought isn't so bad after all. The mayor and the chief have made up, sort of. The weather is lovely. Garlanded breezes stir myriad longings. Spring has inspired poetic thoughts through the centuries. Ah, the china-blue cup we call the sky. Ah, my love in a gossamer frock. Ah, corporation. Corporation?

Richard Ellis Inc., a real estate investment adviser firm that began 214 years ago in London and 11 years ago in the United States, has opened an office in Citicorp Plaza, 725 S. Figueroa St., Suite 1590.

Commitments have been made for 60 of the 67 available retail locations at Seventh Market Place, the shopping mall under construction at Citicorp Plaza. A March opening is scheduled for the center, anchored by May Co. and Bullock's department stores, according to a spokeswoman for Oxford-Prudential Joint Venture, general partner of the project on Figueroa Street between 7th and 8th streets.

An October opening is scheduled for Citicorp Center, the first of three office towers planned for the $650-million, 7.9-acre Citicorp Plaza project at 7th and Figueroa streets in downtown Los Angeles, according to a spokesman for Oxford-Prudential Joint Venture, the developers. The first phase of Citicorp Plaza will also include a three-level retail mall anchored by Bullocks and May Co. department stores.

Reversing a decision announced in early March, R.H. Macy & Co. on Wednesday said that it has canceled plans to close its Bullock's store at Citicorp Plaza, a downtown Los Angeles fixture that was to be shut down later this month.

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra took to the street Tuesday to establish a new prominence in the city with the first portion of a huge downtown mural depicting most of the acclaimed orchestra's 40 members. Painted by famed Los Angeles muralist Kent Twitchell, the eight-story high "Harbor Freeway Overture" is planned to sprawl over at least four walls on the multi-sided parking structure at Citicorp Plaza, facing the northbound Harbor Freeway at 8th Street.

Spring is upon us with a gentle vengeance. This season should come at the beginning of the year instead of sneaking in three months late. It makes us feel things are getting better. Well, the drought isn't so bad after all. The mayor and the chief have made up, sort of. The weather is lovely. Garlanded breezes stir myriad longings. Spring has inspired poetic thoughts through the centuries. Ah, the china-blue cup we call the sky. Ah, my love in a gossamer frock. Ah, corporation. Corporation?

Despite Hong Kong's uncertain future, Citicorp is financing one of the largest commercial projects in the British colony and also plans to open a new regional headquarters in the building. Dubbed Citicorp Plaza, the project's 35- and 50-story towers will overlook Hong Kong's central business district. Citicorp plans to spend at least $159 million to acquire the upper floors of the tallest structure, where it plans to consolidate employees from two other Hong Kong offices.

From the distant vantage point of the Harbor and Santa Monica freeways, downtown Los Angeles is beginning to look more and more interesting. The recently topped crown of the cylindrical First Interstate World Center, fashioned by the architectural office of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, glistens, as do the wall panels being applied to the 777 Tower designed by Cesar Pelli.

Saddlerock Group Inc. has named Jacques Warshauer its new president. The Long Beach-based residential and commercial developer has projects in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties. Warshauer is also chairman of Belmont Financial Corp., the parent company of Dolphin Properties. Byrn A. Watson has been named chief operating officer of Benchmark Contractors Inc., a subsidiary of Morley Group Inc., Costa Mesa. Previously, Watson was vice president at Morley Construction Co. Benchmark has apartment/condominium and commercial projects in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

The separate month-end sales of the Century Plaza Towers in Century City and Citicorp Plaza in downtown Los Angeles are expected to be finalized Monday after months of negotiations, according to people familiar with both deals. Prudential Insurance Co. will complete the sale of the twin 44-story skyscrapers and the adjoining ABC Entertainment Center for about $480 million to an investment group involving pension funds and investment bank J.P. Morgan.

Reversing a decision announced in early March, R.H. Macy & Co. on Wednesday said that it has canceled plans to close its Bullock's store at Citicorp Plaza, a downtown Los Angeles fixture that was to be shut down later this month.

In one of the largest Southland leases announced this year, the law firm of Baker & McKenzie has signed a 15-year lease worth more than $55 million for about 100,000 square feet of office space in 777 Tower, a 53-story building rising near the intersection of Figueroa and 7th streets in downtown Los Angeles, The tower, which broke ground last September and is set to open late next year, is the second of three office towers planned in the Citicorp...

Believers in "7" as a lucky number might have scheduled a ground breaking for the 777 Tower at Citicorp Plaza on Sept. 7, but the ceremony will be held, instead, this Thursday on the corner of South Figueroa and 8th, not 7th, streets. Designed by architect Cesar Pelli, the $300-million, 1-million-square-foot office tower being developed by a joint venture of the Prudential Insurance Co. and MECA Associates (a partnership of an affiliate of Mitsubishi Estate New York Inc. and Ayrshire Corp.