State Bar to Pursue Building Purchase in Los Angeles

Thursday, September 13, 2012

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State Bar to Pursue Building Purchase in Los Angeles

By a MetNews Staff Writer

The State Bar is moving ahead with plans to pursue the purchase of a new headquarters building in Los Angeles, a spokesperson said yesterday.

The Operations Committee of the Board of Trustees on Tuesday authorized staff to pursue the purchase of a now-largely-gutted building at 845 S. Figueroa St., the spokesperson said.

The building is currently being renovated, and purchase terms—which are still being negotiated—will be announced in a few weeks if the negotiations are successful, the spokesperson said. The State Bar would then move in by fall of next year.

In a statement, the State Bar said it pursued the purchase so that it can once again own all of its office space. The State Bar has leased office space in Los Angeles since 1986, but owns its San Francisco headquarters.

“I’m pleased that after a 26-year hiatus, the State Bar may be able to return to the fiscally responsible position of owning rather than leasing its office space in Los Angeles,” State Bar President Jon Streeter said in the statement. “Ownership is a far more prudent investment of the members’ dues.”

The State Bar had its Los Angeles headquarters at 1230 W. Third St. from 1960 until 1986, when it was forced out by an arson fire. It has been at its current location, 1149 S. Hill St., since the early 1990s, and the lease there will expire in 2014, the spokesperson said.

The organization has been looking to purchase a Los Angeles headquarters for some years now.

AB 3049, the dues bill enacted by the Legislature in 2008, authorized the State Bar to add $10 annually to each member’s dues for the years 2009 through 2013 for that purpose.

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–Staff Photograph by Hector Reyes

Building at 845 S. Figueroa St., which the State Bar may purchase for its los Angeles headquarters.

–Artist rendering courtesy of the State Bar

This artist rendering depicts how the building would look if the State Bar’s plans come to fruition.