Note: The official response of the Los Angeles Times states disputes this report, and reads as follows:
The Los Angeles Times remains under lease at Onni Times Square until June 2018 with options to continue beyond that date. We have not signed a new lease. We are currently researching our options for the future, which include remaining in the building or selecting a new location.
The Los Angeles Times will relocate its operations to a high-rise tower in the Financial District and bid farewell to its home of more than 80 years, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
As of May, the Times has reportedly finalized a lease with Shorenstein Company for more than 100,000 square feet at the office building currently known as Aon Center. The exact terms of the deal are uncertain, although sources indicate that it comes with naming and signage rights for the 62-story tower at 707 Wilshire Boulevard. Aon Corporation, the British professional services firm whose logo is currently displayed atop the building, is downsizing its footprint.
Completed in 1973, the Charles Luckman-designed tower was the tallest building in Los Angeles at the time of its opening, and still reigns as the third highest point in the Downtown skyline. A fire which destroyed five of the tower's floors inspired the rooftop helipad ordinance that long shaped the City's flat-topped skyline.
In a move to the opposite side of Downtown, the Times would leave behind its namesake Los Angeles Times Building, an Art Deco landmark with key components built in the 1930s and 1940s. Though historic in nature, the property has noticeably fallen into disrepair.
Deferred maintenance at the property culminated in a sale of the entire complex last year for $120 million to the Vancouver-based Onni Group. The Canadian developer has since initiated plans to refurbish the historic buildings and replace a 1970s expansion with a pair of modern residential towers.
- Financial District Archive (Urbanize LA)