Owner seeks a buyer for the 55,362-square-foot landmark amid financial strain and shifting demand
The commercial real estate shakeout across coastal Southern California is reaching one of Santa Monica’s most recognizable buildings, as Rockwood Capital moves to sell the historic Clock Tower Building at 225 Santa Monica Blvd. The 12-story Art Deco tower—long a fixture in the city’s compact downtown—has been brought to market by brokerage firm Newmark at a moment when office owners across the region face rising vacancies and weakened cash flows. Pricing guidance is not available at this time.
Rockwood acquired the Clock Tower for $31.28 million in 2019, a very different phase of the office cycle. Since then, remote work patterns, slower leasing velocity and tightening credit have eroded fundamentals across Los Angeles County. The Clock Tower has felt the pressure acutely: by late 2024, occupancy had fallen to about 43 percent, and the building’s $26.7 million CMBS loan was transferred to special servicing after missing its May 2025 maturity date. According to previous reporting from The Registry, net operating income dropped from $1.7 million in 2023 to $570,000 in 2024, while net cash flow slid from $1.6 million to $432,000. With a debt service coverage ratio of 0.38x, the property was generating well below what was needed to satisfy its loan obligations.
Against that backdrop, the Newmark listing frames the sale as lender-facilitated and highlights a mix of stability and redevelopment potential. Marketing materials note that the building is currently 42 percent leased with a weighted average lease term of two years—enough to yield near-term income, but short enough for a buyer to reposition the asset. Its compact 4,400-square-foot floor plates, side core layout and ceilings of more than 11 feet are pitched as adaptable for multiple strategies, including creative office, office condominiums, owner-user scenarios or even residential or hospitality conversion if a buyer chooses to pursue entitlements.
Newmark emphasizes that the Clock Tower belongs to a small subset of Santa Monica office properties with views west to the Pacific.
“Among the select ~5 percent of Santa Monica’s office inventory with ocean exposure, the Clock Tower is one of only ten buildings in the City featuring ocean views, available from floors 7–12,” brokers pointed out in the marketing materials.
The city’s limited supply pipeline and regulatory constraints have historically shaped a stable office environment, though vacancy pressures since the pandemic have tested that resilience.
The property also holds a ground-floor anchor in the Misfit Bar & Restaurant, a long-standing draw on Santa Monica Boulevard. Its foot traffic, along with proximity to the Third Street Promenade and the beach, adds a measure of street-level activity that many older office assets in the region struggle to match. Newmark’s Kevin Donner, Andrew Jennison, Daniel Pickart and Katie Gavin are leading the assignment.
