March 12, 2012 6:46 PM

Real Estate Roundup: Greenberg Traurig Shifting Office Space in California

Posted by Brian Baxter

Miami-based Greenberg Traurig, which saw gross revenues hold steady in 2011, moved into new offices in San Francisco this month and plans to relocate its Los Angeles area operations in April.

The firm's 20 lawyers in San Francisco moved on March 1 to Four Embarcadero Center in the city's financial district. Greenberg Traurig, which is relocating its main Bay Area hub under a ten-year lease, will occupy the 45-story building's thirtieth floor, according to a press release. Financial terms of the lease were not disclosed. (The firm also has an office in Silicon Valley.)

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, Greenberg Traurig is taking 70,000 square feet of space on four floors, including the penthouse, of 1840 Century Park East, according to the Los Angeles Times. The new building in Century City was the headquarters of aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman until the company left last year.

To fill the space, Greenberg Traurig is moving about 100 lawyers from nearby Santa Monica, where the firm previously occupied more than 100,000 square feet of space. The firm signed a 15-year, $44 million lease at the new property in Century City from landlord California State Teachers' Retirement System, the LAT reports.

"This truly is a case of 'less is more,' " Greenberg Traurig CEO Richard Rosenbaum said in a statement about the firm's relocation to its new digs in Century City (pictured right). Because the downtown space can be configured more efficiently, Rosenbaum said, it "allows for more attorney offices and more state-of-the-art conference facilities."

Greenberg Traurig also expanded its operations in Sacramento last month by adding 7,000 square feet of space to the 22,000 it already has in the state capital. The firm has almost 25 lawyers in the city, where it opened in 2005 by merging with Livingston & Mattesich.

The California office moves, Rosenbaum said, reflect a "commitment to making smart business decisions while remaining on the cutting-edge of law office design with a focus on client service."

The LAT noted in its report that Alston & Bird is also working on a major renovation of its space at the Bank of America Center in downtown Los Angeles. The firm, which inherited the office space as part of  its 2008 merger with Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava & MacCuish, changed its status from subtenant to tenant and expanded local operations to 80,000 square feet on three floors of the 55-story building.

Terms of the new lease were not released, but the LAT quotes sources valuing the deal at about $30 million.

Other Am Law 200 firms have also been busy in recent weeks inking new leases across the country.

Duane Morris signed a lease last month to take 20,035 square feet at Newark Legal Center in New Jersey, according to the CoStar Group. The firm will occupy the twentieth floor of the decade-old building, also known as One Riverfront Center.

Duane Morris is also preparing to relocate its operations in Atlanta by taking an entire floor—or about 27,898 square feet of space—by inking a nine-year lease at 1075 Peachtree Street, according to CoStar.

CoStar notes that Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman is also on the move in Atlanta, signing on for 16,320 square feet of space at Two Midtown Plaza, a 20-story building located at 1360 Peachtree Street.

Further south, DLA Piper has made a long-term commitment to the Miami office it opened and staffed last year with two lateral hires last year by signing a new lease for 22,567 square feet of space at the Southeast Financial Center, according to sibling publication the Daily Business Review. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.

In nearby Coral Gables, the DBR reports that Hinshaw & Culbertson has signed a 12-year lease to relocate its 32 local lawyers to 22,416 square feet of space at a building built in 2004. Hinshaw's Miami area presence was bolstered last year when it picked up eight lawyers from dissolving Yoss LLP.

In Washington, D.C., Thompson Hine has ditched its aging office for the past 20 years in favor of a seven-year lease for 35,000 square feet of space at 1919 M Street NW, according to sibling publication The Blog of Legal Times. The firm has about 35 lawyers in the nation's capital.

The American Bar Association also signed a 15-year lease to occupy 61,000 square feet of space to house its new offices in Washington, D.C., according to The BLT. The ABA is making the move to leased space only a month after selling its old headquarters for $69.25 million late last year.

Photos: San Francisco’s Four Embarcadero Center, Wikimedia Commons; Century City office, courtesy of Greenberg Traurig

 

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