Office Space

The former West Hollywood headquarters of noted architect Charles Luckman was sold Wednesday for a near-record price per square foot in Los Angeles County, accentuating a run-up in local office values over the last few years. Los Angeles-based Mani Bros. Real Estate Group bought two Sunset Boulevard office buildings on the eastern border of Beverly Hills for undisclosed terms, said Chief Executive Simon Mani.

If Wayne Gretzky once had his "office," then so does the Ducks' Teemu Selanne. Gretzky, in his day, often set up shop behind the net to create offense. Selanne's power-play "office" frequently has been the left-wing circle. Again, he delivered from there for the game-winning goal early in the third period in the Ducks' 3-1 win over the Red Wings in Game 1. "Usually, I have a little bit better angle," said Selanne on Wednesday in Anaheim after an optional practice. "It was at the end of the power play, so I just decided I'm going to shoot there and hope for the best.

The Carnation Co. is in the throes of moving from its landmark headquarters in the mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles into the largest office building in Glendale, set to open on North Brand Boulevard on Tuesday. The massive undertaking began late Wednesday and will continue through Labor Day, John R. Curd, company spokesman, said.

Five of the 10 tallest skyscrapers in Los Angeles will soon be controlled by a Manhattan real estate company in one of the biggest shake-ups of the downtown commercial real estate market in decades. Brookfield Office Properties Inc. has agreed to pay about $430 million for four prominent buildings on the urban skyline, including Gas Company Tower and Wells Fargo Tower on Bunker Hill. The pending deal would mark the end of MPG Office Trust Inc., one of Southern California's most celebrated office developers.

The tallest building in the West, the financially struggling U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, is being sold to Singapore investors for $367.5 million. At 72 stories, the circular structure has commanded the city skyline since it was completed in 1989 and is one of the best-known office buildings in the country. It was previously named Library Tower and also First Interstate World Center. The skyscraper designed by the New York firm of star architect I.M. Pei is the tallest building in L.A. - but not the most popular with tenants.

The head of the firm that wants to buy some of downtown Los Angeles' biggest skyscrapers is bullish about its long-stagnant office market. "We like the direction the market is heading and think it will be improving quarter over quarter. " Dennis Friedrich, chief executive of Brookfield Office Properties Inc., told industry analysts Friday. "Around the globe there has been a trend toward growth in urban centers and L.A. is looking at this over time. " "We are being realistic about the downtown market," he added.

Los Angeles officials have offered Occupy L.A. protesters a package of incentives that includes downtown office space and farmland in an attempt to persuade them to abandon their camp outside of City Hall, according to several demonstrators who have been in negotiations with the city. The details of the proposal were revealed Monday during the demonstration's nightly general assembly meeting by Jim Lafferty, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild who has been advocating on behalf of the protest since it began seven weeks ago. Lafferty said city officials have offered protesters a $1-a-year lease on a 10,000-square-foot office space near City Hall.

Professional matchmaker Julie Ferman, chief executive of Cupid's Coach, used to meet with clients in a hotel lobby or one of a dozen restaurants around town to save them the drive to her home-based office in Westlake Village. It wasn't always the best choice for clients expected to share personal information for their dating profiles, but like many start-up founders she was pinching pennies and testing her concept. Ferman spent the time between appointments trying to work in her parked car.

In a move to shed nonessential assets, Bank of America will sell and lease back some of its administrative office space. Only three office buildings — two in North Carolina and one in New York — have been identified for sale so far, but others are expected to follow. "Real estate ownership is not a core business for Bank of America," spokeswoman Kelli Raulerson said. "Therefore we are currently reviewing our administrative portfolio and may make the decision to sell our ownership interest in certain properties.

Tokyo remains the most expensive office market in the world, though growth in demand from computer and Internet-related companies has U.S. cities quickly closing the gap, according to a study by CB Richard Ellis Services Inc., the world's largest property brokerage firm. At No. 9, San Francisco is the highest- priced U.S. city and the first U.S. city to crack the top 10. The top 10 cities with the most expensive office space: *--* Leasing cost City (area) per square foot/year 1.

The head of the firm that wants to buy some of downtown Los Angeles' biggest skyscrapers is bullish about its long-stagnant office market. "We like the direction the market is heading and think it will be improving quarter over quarter. " Dennis Friedrich, chief executive of Brookfield Office Properties Inc., told industry analysts Friday. "Around the globe there has been a trend toward growth in urban centers and L.A. is looking at this over time. " "We are being realistic about the downtown market," he added.

Actor Ryan Phillippe has sold his home in Hollywood Hills West for $6 million. With a master suite that takes up an entire level, the gated five-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom house contains 7,600 square feet of living space. Among its features are a gym, a media room and separate guest or office space. The more than half an acre of grounds includes a swimming pool with underwater speakers, a spa and an outdoor kitchen. Stressing the privacy and security of the “Zen-modern retreat,” listing details note that the two-story entry hall was used as a gym. Phillippe, 38, starred in "The Lincoln Lawyer" (2011)

Two rundown 1920s-era buildings in Long Beach will be converted to a medical office complex as the city's historic downtown notches another addition to its budding revival along North Pine Avenue. The $60-million development will provide offices for Molina Healthcare Inc., a Long Beach medical services provider expected to grow in the next few years by serving more clients through the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Anchoring the development that will cover a city block is the former headquarters of the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

The tallest building in the West, the financially struggling U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, is being sold to Singapore investors for $367.5 million. At 72 stories, the circular structure has commanded the city skyline since it was completed in 1989 and is one of the best-known office buildings in the country. It was previously named Library Tower and also First Interstate World Center. The skyscraper designed by the New York firm of star architect I.M. Pei is the tallest building in L.A. - but not the most popular with tenants.

An unusually configured office, retail and residential building in downtown Santa Monica has been acquired by a Los Angeles developer who intends to figure out what it looked like 50 years ago and reestablish its authenticity. Philip Orosco and his firm Pacshore Partners paid the Lionstone Group $20 million for the 631 Wilshire Blvd. structure. The four-story building looks art deco, a pre-World War II design style. However, the facade probably dates to the 1990s, when a previous owner spent about $4 million adding a rooftop recreation room and two floors of apartments to the then two-story building, he said.

Ambitious South Korean enterprises continue to make noise on the global economic stage. Electronics giant Samsung is giving Apple fits in markets across the globe with its hot-selling smartphones and tablets. Seoul-based Hyundai and Kia have been among the world's fastest-growing automakers in recent years. Portly singer Psy put South Korea on the pop culture map with his monster hit “Gangnam Style,” which has become the most popular video of all time on YouTube with nearly 1.3 billion views.

New jobs are being created so rapidly in Orange County that developers would have to build the equivalent of Newport Center annually for the next decade in order to keep pace with demand for office space, according to a new survey by The Seeley Co. The study, part of a broader report on the Southland's office needs, showed that Orange County's construction of commercial buildings over the next decade will increase by a third. Using conservative job growth estimates, the report found that 3.

Downtown Los Angeles, during the third quarter, experienced its largest growth ever of commercial space. A record 2.8 million square feet of new office space was added to the inventory, making 23 million square feet of such space available, along with a vacancy factor of about 18%. While the developers of that ample supply may be uneasy, potential tenants should continue to enjoy a competitive leasing market as broker activity intensifies.

WASHINGTON — If you're one of the millions of homeowners and renters who work or run a business from the place you live, here's some good news on taxes: The Internal Revenue Service wants to make it easier for you to file for deductions on the business-related use of your home. Rather than the complicated 43-line form you now have to fill out to claim a write-off — the instructions alone take up four pages of text and involve computations such as depreciation and utility bill expense allocations — the IRS has come up with a much simpler option: What it calls a "safe harbor" method that allows you to measure the square footage of your business space and apply for a deduction.