AEG To Consolidate Offices In Historic Downtown LA Building
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — City officials and Southland business leaders Tuesday joined AEG executives to announce the company's expansion and new investments in Los Angeles.
KNX 1070's Margaret Carrero reports the sports and entertainment giant has agreed to lease a historic office building near downtown's LA Live where it will consolidate its offices.
AEG To Consolidate Offices In Historic Downtown LA Building
Over 500 employees with the firm's AEG Live and AXS Ticketing division will move to a century-old building known as The Desmond at the corner of 11th and Hope streets, a company spokesperson told The Los Angeles Times.
Before AEG moves in next April, the century-old brick-and-concrete building will undergo a $13 million makeover and a full seismic retrofit.
Built in 1929, The Desmond was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the architect behind downtown's Federal Courthouse along with several elaborate train stations and the famous North Rim Lodge at the Grand Canyon.
AEG Vice Chair Ted Fickre said the company had been looking for a place to bring their ticketing and live entertainment divisions closer to corporate headquarters at LA Live.
"The nature and the character of this space is special, and it's different than the office space we have at LA Live or the office space you'd see at some of the surrounding towers, so it's the best of both worlds," Fickre said. "This historic building will house over five hundred employees when we occupy it early next Spring, which will bring our full-time headcount Downtown to over a thousand people."
City Councilman Jose Huizar, who has spearheaded the "Bringing Back Broadway" effort to restore downtown's historic theater district, was also on hand for AEG's announcement.
Business leaders like Carol Schatz, President and CEO of the Central City Association, hope the move will bring more investment into the downtown area.
"When the city center does well, that benefit spills out to every neighborhood in the city," Schatz said.
Construction on the former department store warehouse will take about eight months, with full occupancy expected in April 2015, The Times reported.
"This move by AEG, by moving two of its most important divisions to Downtown LA, reflects their continued commitment to Downtown," Schatz said.
There remains no word on AEG's hopes of construction on Farmer's Field, a football stadium planned near LA Live, once an NFL team commits to moving to Los Angeles
