The Bloc is returning to the market with more than its existing offices and shops on offer: a buyer would also inherit city approval for a possible 466-unit residential tower above the complex’s parking garage. The development option does not mean construction is assured, but it gives the sale a housing dimension as well as a commercial one.
National Real Estate Advisors is marketing the 1.2-million-square-foot office and retail portion at Seventh and Flower streets, while the nearly 500-room Sheraton Grand is being marketed separately, the Los Angeles Times reports. No asking price has been set. A real estate expert cited by the Times estimated the property at roughly $160 million.
An approved tower, not an office conversion
The Los Angeles City Council approved the 710-foot, 466-unit tower in September 2025. The owners agreed to nearly $16.8 million in public benefits tied to a transfer of development rights from the LA Convention Center, including $8.4 million for downtown amenities and $3 million for street-lighting repairs, Urbanize LA reported. The approved plan is for new construction above the garage; the approval alone does not establish when or whether the tower will be built.
That distinction matters in a city with a separate history of encouraging commercial-to-residential conversions. Los Angeles City Planning says the original Adaptive Reuse Ordinance, adopted in 1999, streamlined procedures and offered incentives for eligible buildings built before 1974 in or near downtown. That policy is a precedent for reusing older buildings, not a description of The Bloc’s proposed tower.
The proposal also sits within broader housing goals, though those targets do not show how much housing has been delivered. The Downtown Community Plan, effective in February 2025, aims to accommodate projected growth of 125,000 residents and 70,000 housing units by 2040, Los Angeles City Planning says. Los Angeles Downtown News reported those figures as plan projections, not completed homes. Separately, CoStar, citing a University of Southern California report, says Los Angeles County completed fewer than 100,000 housing units since 2021; that countywide figure is not a downtown-specific measure or a count of The Bloc’s contribution.
The existing complex still has vacancies to resolve
The property’s immediate commercial picture includes a large vacant space: the 250,000-square-foot Macy’s closed in 2025. Broker Mike Condon Jr. of Cushman & Wakefield told the Times that a buyer could consider a new use for it. The center also includes an office tower and retailers and restaurants such as Uniqlo and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
The Bloc opened as an indoor mall in the 1970s and underwent a major renovation beginning in 2013, including an open-air courtyard, street-level shops and a connection to the 7th Street/Metro Center station, according to the Los Angeles Times. The sale now brings together that existing mixed-use operation, the empty department-store space and a separately marketed hotel with a residential development option. The asking price and the next owner’s plans for those assets remain unknown.
