Highlights
- Riot Games acquires Element LA for $231M, gaining full ownership after years as the campus’s primary tenant.
- Hudson Pacific uses proceeds to repay $206M in CMBS debt, following earlier redevelopment investments totaling about $150M.
- The five-building, 12-acre Element LA campus includes a 167K-square-foot 1950s structure with bow truss ceilings, sawtooth skylights, and industrial-style windows.
Riot Games has acquired the Element LA campus in West Los Angeles for $231 million USD. The purchase includes $150M for the property and $81M tied to the termination of Riot’s lease. Hudson Pacific Properties used the full amount to pay down $206M in Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) debt connected to the site.
Industry data from CoStar Group confirmed Riot Games as the buyer, reflecting its move from long-time tenant to full campus owner. The company has operated from the site for years as it expanded across West Los Angeles.
Hudson Pacific assembled the property more than a decade ago, spending $101M to acquire its warehouse and office buildings before redeveloping them into a unified campus. That redevelopment contributed to a broader project with total costs of about $150M.
Hudson Pacific CEO and chairman, Victor Coleman, said the sale advances the company’s capital strategy, noting that the transaction “strengthens our balance sheet through additional debt reduction while enhancing our liquidity to reinvest into growth opportunities” in markets where leasing momentum has improved, including the Bay Area and Seattle.
Riot Games
Earlier Full-Campus Lease and Expansion Plans Anchored Riot’s Interest
Riot had previously, in Nov 2013, committed to leasing the entire 284K square feet under a 15-year agreement. Hudson Pacific’s asking rate was approximately $3.75 per square foot. The lease was intended to consolidate roughly 1K employees who had been spread across several Santa Monica offices, with room to increase staffing to 1.5K.
Element LA occupies 12 acres and is structured as a five-building campus. The central 1950s-era building spans 167K square feet, and features bow truss ceilings, sawtooth skylights, and industrial-style windows.
The campus includes multiple buildings and an on-site parking facility, and is within walking distance of the Expo/Bundy E Line station, which opened in 2016. Although other firms evaluated the site during early leasing discussions, Riot ultimately secured exclusive use of the workspace.
The purchase gives Riot Games long-term control of a site already central to its operations, including support work for titles such as League of Legends (LoL). Recent estimates place the game’s monthly player base above 130M, highlighting the scale of activity managed from Los Angeles. Hudson Pacific shifts capital following the divestment.
