PwC leaves Downtown LA for 150K SF in Century City

PwC signed a lease for roughly 150,000 square feet at 2121 Avenue of the Stars in Century City, the red-granite tower owned by Irvine Company. The 15-year commitment sets up a 2028 move from the accounting firm’s longtime home at 601 S. Figueroa Street, where it has been a Downtown fixture since the late 1990s and signed its current lease in 2013. The Century City destination, a red-granite tower overlooking the Fox Studio Lot, was formerly known as Fox Plaza.

Why it matters. The departure adds one of Downtown Los Angeles’ anchor professional-services tenants to a growing list of firms decamping for the Westside. Century City has drawn trophy-office demand while Downtown’s financial core contends with elevated vacancy, softer rents, and a slow return of daytime foot traffic.

The numbers. The new footprint is larger than PwC’s current Downtown space, a sign the firm is consolidating and betting on growth rather than trimming. The building overlooking the Fox Studio Lot was reported at 94% leased in late March, underscoring how tightly held well-located Los Angeles space has become even as older stock struggles.

What’s next. PwC will remain Downtown until its current lease expires, giving the building’s ownership time to backfill. The move reinforces a bifurcation now defining the LA office market: newer, amenitized towers on the Westside filling up while the Financial District works to reinvent its aging inventory. Irvine Company, among the largest office owners on the Westside, adds a blue-chip anchor to an already near-full building. For Downtown, the departure is the latest test of whether the district can hold its remaining marquee names as leases roll over the next several years.