L.A. Care signs one of the year’s biggest leases — and it’s on downtown’s fringe
By Roger Vincent | LA Times
In one of the largest office leases of the year in Los Angeles, insurance provider L.A. Care has agreed to take over a recently renovated building on the edge of downtown for its headquarters.
The agreement to rent 370,000 square feet at 1200 W. 7th St. marks a consolidation for the publicly operated health coverage provider that serves low-income communities in Los Angeles County.
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L.A. Care already leases space in the building west of the Harbor Freeway, but the majority of its nearly 2,000 employees are in offices a few blocks away.
“By consolidating all of our employees under one roof, we will see significant cost savings and improve collaboration,” Chief Executive John Baackes said.
The new configuration in more efficient floor plans will reduce the health plan’s total rented space by 63,000 square feet, he said, resulting in cost savings of millions of dollars a year. The value of the lease, which starts in 2024, was not disclosed, but the landlord was asking for about $2.75 a square foot monthly, according to real estate data provider CoStar.
