Symphony Towers, a downtown landmark and home to the San Diego Symphony, has been sold for an undisclosed price to an international conglomerate headquartered in Orange County.
Formosa, Ltd. bought the 34-story, 546,092-square-foot building at 750 B St. from the Irvine Company, which acquired Symphony Towers in 2003 for $134 million.
Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architects, Symphony Towers was built by the Douglas Wilson Companies in partnership with Charlton Raynd Ventures and opened in 1989 and is the second tallest building downtown at 499 feet. The tallest is One America Plaza at 500 feet.
“This acquisition provides an extraordinary opportunity for us to establish a foothold in one of San Diego’s premier office locations,” said Joe C. Wen, CEO and founder of Formosa, Ltd.
“This is one of the most dynamic buildings in the market and is poised for continued success with the much-anticipated reopening of the San Diego Symphony later this year,” Wen said.
The symphony recently completed a $125 million renovation of Copley Symphony Hall within Symphony Towers.
In 2023, Wen bought One Pacific Plaza, a 400,599-square-foot office campus in Huntington Beach, and 4 Hutton Centre, a 10-story, 216,900-square-foot office tower in Santa Ana.
He also donated $20 million to UC Irvine Center for Advanced Care that now bears his name and a $50 million donation to the newly created Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health at UCI.
Lincoln Property Company will be the property manager of Symphony Towers.
Irvine Company, based in Orange County, declined to discuss the sale.
Chet Cramin of Musick, Peeler & Garrett, LLP, represented Formosa, Ltd. in the transaction.
Irvine Company was represented by Adam Edwards, Justin Shepherd and Bailey Bland of Eastdil Secured.
