UCLA Expands in Downtown Los Angeles with the Acquisition of Iconic Building

Campus Update

Chancellor Block and EVCP Hunt sent the following message to the UCLA Bruin Community.

Dear Bruin Community:

We write to share momentous news: With the goal of deepening UCLA’s impact across our city, our university has fulfilled a long-held ambition of acquiring a landmark property in downtown Los Angeles.

Today, UCLA completed the acquisition of the Trust Building — an 11-story, 334,000-square-foot Art Deco high-rise near Pershing Square in L.A.’s Historic Core. Coupled with the recently announced UCLA South Bay campus in Rancho Palos Verdes and UCLA South Bay Villas in San Pedro, this new space will enable us to grow our enrollment and broaden access to UCLA offerings in line with UC’s 2030 goals. Importantly, the acquisition also contributes to a key strategic priority of expanding our presence within the city, allowing us to foster greater engagement with the diverse communities of Los Angeles.

Built in 1928 — a year before UCLA established its Westwood campus — the newly acquired building was recently renovated and possesses significant square footage that can be converted into classroom, research, office, meeting and social space. In the near term, part of the building will house programs and administrative offices for UCLA Extension, which has had a footprint in the city’s center for more than a century. UCLA Extension will offer certificate, workforce education and training programs as well as lifelong learning opportunities on the site.

The Trust Building adds to UCLA’s existing downtown presence, which currently includes a UCLA Health clinic close to Pershing Square as well as the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center in nearby MacArthur Park. Notably, the new building sits just two blocks from the Pershing Square Metro station and a short distance from other major downtown public transit hubs. Once the Purple (D Line) Extension Transit Project connects L.A.’s metro rail to Westwood in 2027, a fast, affordable and environmentally friendly mode of public transportation will directly link our main campus with our downtown properties. This strategic link will create opportunities for Bruins to more easily live, work and serve across the region.

Los Angeles is one of the world’s greatest cities, and our university’s location within it both enriches the UCLA experience and provides us with innumerable opportunities to serve our local communities. We are thrilled about the possibilities this new space offers, and confident that it will further intertwine UCLA and L.A., helping us to deepen the impact of our teaching, research and public service mission.

Please join us in thanking all those involved in the effort to acquire this building and in celebrating this wonderful milestone for our university.

Sincerely,