LOS ANGELES—AEG has signed a lease with Lincoln Property Co. for the Desmond Building, an 82,000-square-foot office building in the South Park neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles. The location will serve as the headquarters of AEG's ticketing and live entertainment divisions, AXS Ticketing.

Lincoln Property Co. purchased the property in March 2013. Built in 1916, the property most recently severed as the warehouse of Desmond's department store. Lincoln Property plans to renovate the warehouse into a creative office space with a ground floor cafe. The renovation includes the addition of a 7,000-square-foot sixth floor that brings the square footage up to 82,000 square feet, and a seismic retrofit and upgrades that will both maintain the historic appearance of the building and make it safer for earthquakes. Construction will take place soon, and will be completed in April 2015 when AEG will take occupancy.

"AEG is one of the world's leading concert touring and promotions companies, and for years has been a major catalyst for the revitalization of Downtown L.A.," David Binswanger, Lincoln Property EVP, tells GlobeSt.com "Our transformation of The Desmond into high-quality, creative office space will allow AEG to run their dynamic live music and ticketing businesses in a modern, collaborative work environment. We can't wait to see what they do."

AEG will house 500 employees in the building, who will relocate from AEG Live. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is designing the interior space for AEG. "By consolidating over 500 regional jobs from their AEG Live and AXS Ticketing divisions at the Desmond, AEG is further investing in the growth and vitality of Downtown Los Angeles," says Binswanger. "Lincoln Property's transformation of this long-vacant historic property, coupled with the anticipated downtown streetcar, positions The Desmond at the center of the rebirth of Downtown L.A."

Office developers are starting to find more and more opportunities in the downtown market. ASB Real Estate Investments and Blatteis & Schnur recently purchased a block of five warehouses for $32.5 million with plans to invest another $30 million to transform the properties into a creative office campus. Similarly, Atlas LA 4^th Street LLC purchased the former Coca-Cola building in the arts district for $19 million to reposition the warehouse into creative office.