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UCLA purchases Occidental Petroleum building for more than $92M

UCLA purchased the 16-story office building that houses the Hammer Museum on the corner of Westwood and Wilshire boulevards, officials announced Monday. (Creative Commons by Gary Minnaert via Wikipedia)

By Roberto Luna Jr.

Oct. 26, 2015 8:28 p.m.

The original version of this story said Steve Sann said he thinks the Hammer Museum will be able to expand without having to be responsible financially. In fact, he said he thinks Hammer Museum will not have to be responsible financially for operating the building as a landlord.

UCLA has purchased the 16-story office building that houses the Hammer Museum on the corner of Westwood and Wilshire boulevards, officials announced Monday. The building, which formerly housed Occidental Petroleum headquarters, was sold for more than $92 million.

The Hammer Museum also struck a deal with the oil and gas company so that the museum can now occupy the first five floors of UCLA’s newly acquired building after signing a rent-free 99-year lease.

Steven Olsen, vice chancellor and chief financial officer of UCLA, said UCLA officials decided to purchase the building because it will be cheaper to own the building than to lease the building in the long term. UCLA spokesperson Phil Hampton added that officials are still deciding what to do with the upper 10 floors of the newly-acquired office space and penthouse.

Occidental Petroleum officials put the building up for sale earlier this year, after announcing last year that the company would leave Westwood and move its headquarters to Houston. UCLA finalized the sale on Friday, according to a UCLA press release.

Claud Beelman, an art deco and moderne artist, designed the Occidental Petroleum Building, one of Westwood Village’s first high-rise buildings. In recent years, the office building has largely been empty as Occidental Petroleum increasingly moved its operations to Texas.

UCLA officials said they paid for the building with money made from selling bonds in 2012. The profits from the bond sales are intended to finance capital projects and property acquisitions, according to the press release.

The Hammer Museum, a 121,000-square-foot building UCLA has operated since 1994, will lease five floors of the building and expand to include an additional 40,000 feet . Armand Hammer, former chairman of Occidental Petroleum, founded the museum.

The museum would have had the option to purchase the 16-story building and the adjacent museum building in 2021, when its lease with Occidental Petroleum would have expired. Hammer Museum spokesperson Nancy Lee said Occidental Petroleum paid the Hammer $25 million in cash for the Hammer Museum’s option to buy the building.

Museum officials said in a press release the money would help further the museum’s transformation and launch a capital campaign. Officials added they will use the new space to upgrade and expand its existing gallery and create new galleries dedicated to the Hammer Contemporary Collection.

Museum officials said they plan to build a new study center for the UCLA Grunwald Center Collection, a classroom and several support spaces.

Hampton said UCLA acquired about 161,000 square feet of office space through the deal. UCLA currently leases about 300,000 square feet of space in Westwood, he added.

UCLA acquired the Wilshire Center in March 1993 so they could reduce off-campus office leasing costs and to have more available offices. The UCLA Wilshire Center, which has been in full use as of 2012, was the first UCLA-owned high-rise building on Wilshire Boulevard.

Andrew Thomas, executive director of the Westwood Village Improvement Association, also known as the Westwood BID, said Occidental Petroleum did not always have the building fully occupied, but that he thinks UCLA is the proper owner who can make good use of it.

“Having a building of that size unoccupied is not healthy for our district,” Thomas said.

He added he thinks the Hammer Museum’s expansion will increase the number of people who visit Westwood Village.

Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council, said he thinks the Hammer Museum will greatly benefit from the deal because the museum will be able to expand without having to be responsible financially for leasing, managing, or operating the Oxy building as a landlord.

He added he thinks UCLA can consolidate many of its Westwood Village office leases into one building, freeing up more space for other companies and startups.

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Roberto Luna Jr. | News senior staff
Roberto Luna Jr. is currently a senior staffer covering Westwood, crime and transportation. He was previously an assistant News editor from 2015-2016 and a News contributor from 2014-2015.
Roberto Luna Jr. is currently a senior staffer covering Westwood, crime and transportation. He was previously an assistant News editor from 2015-2016 and a News contributor from 2014-2015.
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