Aon Center Sold to N.Y. Firm

Aon Center in downtown Los Angeles, the city’s second-tallest building at 62 stories, has been sold to a New York investment company.

Broadway Real Estate Partners on Wednesday confirmed it acquired the skyscraper in late August for about $185 million from Transwestern Investment Co.

Aon Center, at the northwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Hope Street, has about 1 million square feet. It is about 80% occupied. Tenants include insurance giant Aon Corp., the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Wells Fargo.

Broadway will work to lease the empty space but doesn’t plan upgrades to the 31-year-old building. “It’s in beautiful condition,” said Scott Sorensen, Broadway’s director of acquisitions for the Western U.S.

The company opened an office in Beverly Hills last year and acquired Wilshire Rodeo Plaza there for $150 million in December. Broadway also is pursuing acquisitions in the Bay Area, Orange County and San Diego, Sorensen said.

Broadway’s purchase of Aon Center, at more than $180 per square foot, was “a very smart buy,” said real estate broker Bob Safai of Madison Partners, who wasn’t involved in the deal. “You couldn’t rebuild it for $400 a foot.”

Transwestern bought the building for about $120 million almost two years ago.