Four years after launching a $250-million renovation of The Bloc in Downtown Los Angeles, the Ratkovich Company (TRC) announced today that it has sold its interest in the property to one of its equity partners - National Real Estate Advisors, LLC.
The property - which spans a full city block bounded by 7th, 8th, Flower and Hope Streets - was redeveloped in the 1970s with a 1.8-million-square-foot office, hotel, and retail complex. The once fortress-like center has been converted into an open-air shopping mall, with 400,000 square feet of shops and restaurants anchored by a Macy's flagship department store and a future Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. The partially sunken retail space is flanked by a 23-story, 496-room Sheraton Grand hotel to the east and a 33-story, 720,000-square-foot office tower to the west.
The complex is also connected to the nearby 7th Street/Metro Center subway station by a pedestrian tunnel that opened in early 2017.
Although the renovation began with great fanfare, TRC has hit several stumbling blocks during the course of construction. The Los Angeles Times reported in June 2017 that the project was running substantially over budget and a year-and-a-half behind schedule. However, the signing of Alamo Drafthouse last year helped put the project "back on track," according to the Times.
“Now that the majority of The Bloc’s critical construction components are completed, it is the appropriate time for the firm to focus on the San Pedro Public Market and The Alhambra," said TRC President and CEO Wayne Ratkovich in a statement released with the sales
TRC also owns the 5900 Wilshire Boulevard office tower on the Miracle Mile and the Hercules campus in Playa Vista.
- The Bloc Archive (Urbanize LA)