LOS ANGELES—The University of Southern California has expanded its current office lease by 20,000 square feet at the World Trade Center in Downtown Los Angeles, doubling the university's presence in the building. USC's charter high school, Hybrid High School, occupies the space, and the lease expansion will be used for additional classrooms for the junior and senior classes.

“USC already had 20,000 square feet at the project and needed to grow to accommodate the sophomore class moving into its junior and senior years over the next two years,” Chris Runyen, senior managing director at Charles Dunn Co., tells GlobeSt.com. “There were four years left on the initial lease, and I believe they intend to buy or develop a property for this use within the next few years.” Runyen represented the landlord in the lease transaction, Jamison Properties, while Dennis Smith, Howard Feuerstein and Cory Campbell of Travers Realty represented USC.  

Because USC already had a lease in place at the building, the lease transaction was relatively smooth. “The initial lease in 2012 was much more difficult to gain approvals, but this is now a proven location for them and the school has been a success, which helped move this most recent lease along,” Runyen explains. USC's original 20,000-square-foot space was located on the ground floor of the building, and housed administrative offices and classrooms. The new space is located on the second floor. The university performed mild renovations so that the space could accommodate their needs for the 2014/2015 school year.

This lease brings the building's total occupancy to 74%. Located at 350 S. Figueroa St., the 370,000-square-foot, 10-story building now has 74% occupancy with the completion of this lease. The building's owner, Jamison Properties, is a seasoned owner of office properties in Los Angeles. It recently sold a five-story office property in Westwood for $54 million.  The property was purchased by a joint venture between Ocean West Capital Partners and Westbrook Partners.