Vacant Downtown L.A. Office Building Sold

Santa Monica-based Kennedy-Wilson Inc. and a Hong Kong investment firm said they have teamed up to buy 612 S. Flower St., a 485,000-square-foot office building that has sat vacant for five years in the heart of the downtown financial district. A Canadian bank sold the 13-story building, which straddles an entire city block, for about $12 million, according to people familiar with the deal. The nearly 50-year-old building will be renovated to capitalize on the slow-growing but steady demand for downtown Los Angeles office space, said Freeman A. Lyle, chief financial officer for Kennedy-Wilson, a real estate investment firm. The empty building has symbolized the woes of the downtown office market, but its sale and renovation signal renewed confidence, according to real estate brokers. “This is a milestone for downtown,” broker Whitley Collins said.