Downtown’s historic Fine Arts Building sells for $43M

The elaborately decorated Fine Arts Building in Downtown’s Financial District has sold for the “premium price” of $43 million, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The buyer was a Santa Barbara investment firm that purchased the structure “on behalf of a wealthy family,” says the Times.

The sellers, Sorgente Group of America, bought the building back in 2012 for $28.5 million. It had been reported in October that Sorgente was quietly shopping the property for $45 million.

The Fine Arts Building was designed by Oviatt Building architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen. It opened in 1926 and was intended to house workspace and galleries for artists.

The Romanesque Revival-style edifice, a city Historic-Cultural Landmark, features interior tilework by the famed Pasadena artist Ernest Batchelder, as well as indoor murals. Its exterior is dotted with decorative sculptures.

The structure was renovated just last year, and is currently occupied by offices, including the coworking company WeWork, which takes up almost 40 percent of the Fine Arts Building.

A real estate broker with NGKF Capital Markets told the Times that the price tag for the property demonstrates “a general pull in popularity” toward this part of town—close to Seventh Street restaurants, the Metro station, and the new Bloc shopping center and Wilshire Grand tower.

• Historic Fine Arts Building in downtown L.A. sold for premium price of $43 million [LAT]
• Landmark Fine Arts Building in Downtown LA trying to fetch $45M [Curbed LA]