Transit team rents downtown digs near subway

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A new rail transit team overseen by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has subleased space in a prominent downtown Los Angeles office tower.

The group working on the proposed Westside subway extension and regional connector through downtown Los Angeles has taken 41,628 square feet of office space at 777 S. Figueroa St. in a sublease with insurance broker Marsh USA.

The sublease is valued at an annual price of about $1 million or $24 per square foot, according to real estate brokerage Studley, which represented the tenant in the deal. The agreement may last as long as seven years.

Transit team members began moving last month into the 10th and 11th floors of the 52-story tower designed by architect Cesar Pelli and owned by MPG Office Trust. About 200 employees of the MTA and transportation consultants from AECOM and Parsons Brinckerhoff will occupy the space.

The space came fully furnished, allowing the transit team to move in quickly, said broker Andy Lustgarten of Studley.

The 1-million-square-foot office building was completed in 1991 and is near a major subway hub and Staples Center.

-- Roger Vincent