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Back in office: after a stint as an NBA owner, developer Jim Thomas returned to downtown L.A. by outbidding ex-partner Rob Maguire and others for Arco Plaza. (People).

Article Excerpt
REAL estate developer Jim Thomas managed to upstage his former longtime partner Robert Maguire earlier this year when Thomas Properties Group bought Arco Plaza for $270 million. This beat out not only Maguire Partners but Commonwealth Partners and Lowe Enterprises. Thomas, the low-profile co-founder of Maguire Thomas Partners and former owner of the Sacramento Kings, has made an active return to real estate development. He is battling Kilroy Realty Corp. over the rights to develop a 2.2 million-square-foot mixed-use development in El Segundo and is in the planning stages of upgrading the long-neglected downtown L.A. landmark.

Question: The downtown office market has an 18 percent vacancy rate. What's your strategy to bring tenants in?

Answer: We have over 2 million square feet of prospects in various stages of discussions. Obviously we're not going to make all those deals, but it shows there's very strong interest. There are a number of leases coming up for renewal, so we're talking to a lot of people.

Q: What industries will the absorption come from?

A: It will come from a variety of places. We all know that large tenants have left downtown Los Angeles. But one thing we're seeing is the smaller tenants that are 10,000 to 20,000 square feet coming into the market and growing. They're sensitive to rent so they're not going over to the Westside to pay two or...