LOS ANGELES–The international engineering firm Syska Hennessy will move its West Coast headquarters and Los Angeles office to Coretrust Capital Partners’ FourFortyFour South Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles, with a relocation slated for July 2021.
Syska will occupy approximately 14,000 square feet in the iconic tower, the first office tower globally to earn the Tier 2 UL Verified Healthy Building Mark for its indoor air and water quality. The building is located at the prime downtown corner of 5th and Flower Streets, across from the Central Library and adjacent to the Bunker Hill Steps in the heart of Los Angeles.
“We are pleased to bring our staff of 80 professionals to this healthy office environment, which is LEED Gold certified,” said Gary Brennen, Syska Hennessy co-president who will be based at the new office. “Our firm puts a premium on sustainability and environmental quality in our engineering and design work, and FourFortyFour reinforces our brand.”
Mr. Brennen added, “We know the building well because we’ve worked on many engineering projects here. In our experience, Coretrust demonstrably shares our commitment to improving Indoor Environmental Quality and in addressing tenant concerns about the workplace.”
John Passanante, Western Region managing director, specifically noted Coretrust’s significant investments in Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVCGI) in-duct air purification lamps, upgraded MERV-14 rated air filters, frequent fresh air purges, maximum allowable fresh air introduced throughout the day, state-of-the-art building management systems, and the recent UL Healthy Building Mark Tier 2 Certification. “These features, which enhance the health and productivity of our staff, check all the boxes an engineering firm like ours looks for when we are making a long-term real estate decision,” he said.
“Attracting a prestigious global professional firm like Syska Hennessy is a strong validation of the investment and improvements we have put into FourFortyFour to make it technologically and operationally superior,” said Thomas S. Ricci, managing principal and co-founder of Coretrust Capital Partners, owners of FourFortyFour. “Further, Syska Hennessy’s commitment to a 15-year lease is a testament to the benefits the firm sees from locating in our property and being based in downtown Los Angeles.”
Mr. Passanante cited FourFortyFour’s 12,000-square-foot conference and event center – one of Syska’s projects at the building – as a key deciding factor. As he explained, the center allowed Syska to reduce its square footage while still accommodating multiple firm meetings. He added that Syska plans to use the property’s extensive outdoor spaces and gardens to allow socially distanced meetings, dining and social gatherings. These amenities, Mr. Passanante emphasized, are vital to the firm’s environmental health and represent another factor in its leasing decision.
Coretrust acquired the 915,000-square-foot tower in November 2016 and has invested more than $25 million in upgrading all of its building systems, common areas and amenities to the highest levels, earning the UL verification for its indoor air and water quality, far exceeding typical office buildings. Among Coretrust’s innovations was hacking the building’s curtain wall to create a 1,000-square-foot terrace that brings fresh air and sunlight into the 22,500-square-foot Workplace Innovation Lab on the sixth floor (another Syska project). It has added touchless Destination Dispatch to completely modernized Otis elevators that allow tenants to use security cards to call cars without touching buttons. In addition, Coretrust is one of the first landlords to provide continuous elevator air purification through bi-polar ion generators within each cab.
Among other important changes, Coretrust has minimized touch points by adding automatic doors, touchless parking garage entry, touchless security access for visitors and touchless restroom fixtures.
FourFortyFour has a wide range of on-site amenities such as Equinox, Starbucks, Mendocino Farms, OmNom Organics, Citi bank branch, Uptown Drugs, abundant on-site parking and a carwash. Its Distributed Antenna System extends from the lowest level of the parking garage to the roof and provides highly reliable and robust cellular and Internet service throughout and positions the property to take full advantage of 5G as it ramps up its deployment.
About Syska Hennessy
Syska Hennessy Group is a leading global, full-service MEP, information and communication technology (ICT), vertical transportation, and commissioning engineering firm. With almost 500 professionals across 18 offices, the company provides a full range of engineering services for projects of every size and budget. Since 1928, Syska has been designing smarter, safer, and more efficient buildings by integrating essential systems that respond and adapt to a changing world.
About Coretrust Capital Partners
Coretrust Capital Partners, LLC (“Coretrust”) is a Los Angeles-based private real estate operating company formed in 2014 by three original partners of Thomas Properties Group, Inc. (NYSE: TPGI). Coretrust, a Registered Investment Advisor, provides fiduciary investment management services to institutional clients in both co-investment and separate account vehicles targeting opportunistic, value-add, core plus and core strategies in the office sector. Coretrust targets acquisitions in major urban centers located in the West Coast, Southwest and the Mid-Atlantic regions.
