LA-Based REIT Profits Triple

Earnings season comes with earnings calls, and one Los Angeles commercial real estate CEO this week showed how to work both ends of the expectations game that comes with publicly traded outfits.

Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust Kilroy Realty reported net income of $156.2 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared to $52.4 million a year earlier. Revenue declined but not by much, with $279.7 million compared to $289.9 million a year ago.

Chief executive Angela Aman touted the firm’s $205 million purchase of Maple Plaza, an office campus located in Beverly Hills. The three-story, 300,000 square-foot office space marked the company’s entry to the wealthy Westside, and it might have given Aman one of the best earnings-call talking points since she took the CEO’s job nearly two years ago. 

Maple Plaza was 75 percent leased at the time of purchase, and has since “become the strongest driver of leasing activity in our Los Angeles portfolio,” Aman said on the call.

And that’s saying a lot given Kilroy’s Los Angeles portfolio encompasses 53 properties, more than 4.5 million square feet of rentable space, and is 74 percent occupied overall. 

Aman and her crew told analysts and others on the call that the $5 billion company has inked more than 550,000 square feet of leases, new and renewals. Then she showed the other side of her CEO chops — managing expectations for next year, when 970,000 square feet of leases are set to expire. The company was staring at 1.9 million square feet before it locked down occupancy for about half the space with renewals. Aman said the company now anticipates “move-outs in 2026 for the majority of what’s left in the expiration pool.” 

That’s about 500,000 square feet, if you apply mathematics to the earnings-call narrative. Aman said the hope is to chip away at the pending expirations via new leasing. 

The market seemed to like the overall story, in any case, sending Kilroy shares trading higher on earnings in the wake of the earnings report.

Hudson Pacific pending

Spooky season is over but earnings season isn’t. Victor Coleman’s Hudson Pacific Properties reports earnings next Wednesday, and that is one we’re paying particular attention to after the company posted hundreds of millions in financial losses.

Bren ditches downtown SD

The country’s richest developer, Donald Bren, is all out of offices in downtown San Diego. The billionaire’s Irvine Company ended its reign as the largest office landlord in downtown — and its presence.

The company dumped its last office tower: One American Plaza, a 34-story, 650,000-square-foot property.

John Saca and daughter Payton Saca purchased the real estate for $120 million — Bren’s company paid about $300 million for it in 2006. 

He appeared to have wanted out of the area, and the deal marked the end of his discount selling spree that began with the Symphony Towers in 2024. 

This happens to be the second occasion the Sacas and Bren were in business. In November last year, John Saca’s Saca Development purchased another Irvine Company-owned office building in downtown San Diego for about $44 million, or less than a third of what Bren’s company paid for the tower in 2005.

It’s uncharacteristic for Bren to sell, especially at such discounts, which makes the recent deals something more akin to tea leaves than standard comps.

Art Deco gem in receivership 

A couple months ago, we posed a question: Does Rockwood have time to save Santa Monica Clock Tower? 

The clock has struck midnight, it seems and the office tower is in the receiver’s hands now. 

The court appointed a receiver to take control of the property that was once the tallest in the city after special servicer Rialto Capital sued Rockwood Capital, alleging that the Santa Monica Clock tower owner defaulted on commercial mortgage-backed securities debt connected to the property, and owed about $25 million. ​​

Rockwood, according to court documents, consented to a receiver in hopes of a sale. Earlier, servicer commentary noted Rockwood expressed interest in transferring the title back to the lender — after the loan landed in special servicing and the property that is only 43 percent occupied received a value haircut. 

Honoring the late Nelson Rising

Earlier in October, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation dedicated the Nelson C. Rising Legacy Bridge at the Rose Bowl Stadium. The late Nelson Rising was known for the part he played in developing Los Angeles’ skyline. His son Christopher Rising, who now helms Rising Realty Partners, was there to honor his father. 

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