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Los Angeles County’s Strategic Acquisition: The Gas Company Tower
Last Updated on August 3, 2024 by Daily News Staff
Los Angeles County has recently made headlines with its strategic move to purchase the Gas Company Tower, one of downtown LA’s most notable skyscrapers, for $215 million in a foreclosure sale. This acquisition, still pending approval from the Board of Supervisors, marks a significant moment in the county’s real estate strategy amidst fluctuating market conditions.
Gas Company Tower: A Landmark at a Discount
The Gas Company Tower, completed in 1991, stands tall with 52 stories and offers approximately 1.4 million square feet of office space. Once appraised at $632 million in 2020, its purchase at $215 million highlights the dramatic decline in downtown office values, a trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on remote work and the resulting decrease in demand for office space.
Navigating Financial and Structural Complexities
The building’s previous owner, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., defaulted on its loans, leading to a foreclosure sale. The county has begun due diligence to assess any potential structural or financial issues, a process expected to take a few months. This step is crucial, given the tower’s $465 million in outstanding loans and the broader challenges faced by downtown properties in refinancing and maintaining occupancy.
A Generational Investment Opportunity
Real estate experts and county officials view this purchase as a rare opportunity. Andrew Harper of JLL, the firm marketing the property, described it as a “generational investment.” The acquisition could provide the county with a prime asset at a historically low cost, especially given the recent renovations and the building’s current tenants, which include Southern California Gas Co., Deloitte, and Latham & Watkins.
Balancing Modernization and Heritage
The county’s move aligns with its long-term strategy to address seismic vulnerabilities in existing properties. Many of its current facilities, including the iconic Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, are at risk in the event of a major earthquake. The purchase of the Gas Company Tower offers an alternative to the costly retrofitting of these structures, which the county had pledged to undertake within the next decade.
However, not all county officials are fully on board. Supervisor Janice Hahn expressed reservations, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive plan before proceeding with the purchase. Her concerns reflect the broader debate on balancing new investments with preserving Los Angeles’ civic heritage.
The Future of Downtown LA
This acquisition comes amid a broader re-evaluation of downtown Los Angeles’ real estate landscape. With office vacancy rates over 30%, more than triple the healthy level, the area is ripe for reinvention. As buyers seek opportunities in a declining market, the Gas Company Tower symbolizes both the challenges and potential of downtown’s office space.
In summary, Los Angeles County’s tentative acquisition of the Gas Company Tower is more than a real estate transaction; it’s a strategic move reflecting broader economic, structural, and cultural considerations. As the county navigates these complexities, the decision will likely have lasting impacts on the region’s landscape and governance.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-01/gas-company-tower-sale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Company_Tower
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Last Updated on April 12, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Today, we’re undertaking important site maintenance to improve the performance and user experience of the Sleeves SPR Store while completing the merger with STM-STORE.
This transition marks a key step in streamlining our online shopping experience—bringing all merchandise under one unified platform. Our goal is to deliver a faster, more reliable, and more seamless store for our community.
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Space and Tech
Jupiter’s moons hide giant subsurface oceans − Europa Clipper is one of 2 missions on their way to see if these moons could support life
NASA’s Europa Clipper and ESA’s JUICE missions aim to explore Jupiter’s icy moons, focusing on the potential habitability of their underground oceans, particularly Europa’s, by gathering vital scientific data.
Last Updated on April 11, 2026 by Daily News Staff
On Oct. 14, 2024, NASA launched a robotic spacecraft named Europa Clipper to Jupiter’s moons. Clipper will reach the ice-covered Jovian moon Europa in 2030 and spend several years collecting and sending valuable data on the moon’s potential habitability back to Earth.
Clipper isn’t the only mission highlighting researchers’ interest in Jupiter and its moons.
On April 13, 2023, the European Space Agency launched a rocket carrying a spacecraft destined for Jupiter. The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer – or JUICE – will spend at least three years on Jupiter’s moons after it arrives in 2031.
I’m a planetary scientist who studies the structure and evolution of solid planets and moons in the solar system.
There are many reasons my colleagues and I are looking forward to getting the data that Europa Clipper and JUICE will hopefully be sending back to Earth in the 2030s. But perhaps the most exciting information will have to do with water. Three of Jupiter’s moons – Europa, Ganymede and Callisto – are home to large, underground oceans of liquid water that could support life.
Meet Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto
Jupiter has dozens of moons. Four of them in particular are of interest to planetary scientists.
Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are, like Earth’s Moon, relatively large, spherical complex worlds. Two previous NASA missions have sent spacecraft to orbit the Jupiter system and collected data on these moons. The Galileo mission orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003 and led to geological discoveries on all four large moons. The Juno mission is still orbiting Jupiter today and has provided scientists with an unprecedented view into Jupiter’s composition, structure and space environment.
These missions and other observations revealed that Io, the closest of the four to its host planet, is abuzz with geological activity, including lava lakes, volcanic eruptions and tectonically formed mountains. But it is not home to large amounts of water.
Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, in contrast, have icy landscapes. Europa’s surface is a frozen wonderland with a young but complex history, possibly including icy analogs of plate tectonics and volcanoes. Ganymede, the largest moon in the entire solar system, is bigger than Mercury and has its own magnetic field generated internally from a liquid metal core. Callisto appears somewhat inert compared to the others, but serves as a valuable time capsule of an ancient past that is no longer accessible on the youthful surfaces of Europa and Io.
Most exciting of all: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto all almost certainly possess underground oceans of liquid water.
Ocean worlds
Europa, Ganymede and Callisto have chilly surfaces that are hundreds of degrees below zero. At these temperatures, ice behaves like solid rock.
But just like Earth, the deeper underground you go on these moons, the hotter it gets. Go down far enough and you eventually reach the temperature where ice melts into water. Exactly how far down this transition occurs on each of the moons is a subject of debate that scientists hope to resolve with JUICE and Europa Clipper. While the exact depths are still uncertain, scientists are confident that these oceans exist.
The best evidence of these oceans comes from Jupiter’s magnetic field. Saltwater is electrically conductive. So as these moons travel through Jupiter’s magnetic field, they generate a secondary, smaller magnetic field that signals to researchers the presence of an underground ocean. Using this technique, planetary scientists have been able to show that the three moons contain underground oceans. And these oceans are not small – Europa’s ocean alone might have more than double the water of all of Earth’s oceans combined.
An obvious and tantalizing next question is whether these oceans can support extraterrestrial life. Liquid water is an important piece of what makes for a habitable world, but far from the only requirement for life. Life also needs energy and certain chemical compounds in addition to water to flourish. Because these oceans are hidden beneath miles of solid ice, sunlight and photosynthesis are out. But it’s possible other sources could provide the needed ingredients.
On Europa, for example, the liquid water ocean overlays a rocky interior. That rocky seafloor could provide energy and chemicals through underwater volcanoes that could make Europa’s ocean habitable. But it is also possible that Europa’s ocean is a sterile, inhospitable place – scientists need more data to answer these questions.
Upcoming missions from ESA and NASA
Europa Clipper and JUICE are set up to give scientists game-changing information about the potential habitability of Jupiter’s moons. While both missions will gather data on multiple moons, JUICE will spend time orbiting and focusing on Ganymede, and Europa Clipper will make dozens of close flybys of Europa.
Both of the spacecraft will carry a suite of scientific instruments built specifically to investigate the oceans. Onboard radar will allow Europa Clipper and JUICE to probe into the moons’ outer layers of solid ice. Radar could reveal any small pockets of liquid water in the ice, or, in the case of Europa, which has a thinner outer ice layer than Ganymede and Callisto, hopefully detect the larger ocean.
Magnetometers will also be on both missions. These tools will give scientists the opportunity to study the secondary magnetic fields produced by the interaction of conductive oceans with Jupiter’s field in great detail and will hopefully give researchers clues to salinity and volumes of the oceans.
Scientists will also observe small variations in the moons’ gravitational pulls by tracking subtle movements in both spacecrafts’ orbits, which could help determine if Europa’s seafloor has volcanoes that provide the needed energy and chemistry for the ocean to support life.
Finally, both craft will carry a host of cameras and light sensors that will provide unprecedented images of the geology and composition of the moons’ icy surfaces.
Maybe one day, a spacecraft will be able to drill through the miles of solid ice on Europa, Ganymede or Callisto and explore oceans directly. Until then, observations from spacecraft like Europa Clipper and JUICE are scientists’ best bet for learning about these ocean worlds.
When Galileo discovered these moons in 1609, they were the first objects known to directly orbit another planet. Their discovery was the final nail in the coffin of the theory that Earth – and humanity – resides at the center of the universe. Maybe these worlds have another humbling surprise in store.
This article, originally published April 10, 2023, has been updated with details about the Europa Clipper launch.
Mike Sori, Assistant Professor of Planetary Science, Purdue University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Last Updated on April 11, 2026 by Daily News Staff
April 10, 2026 — NASA’s Artemis II crew has safely returned to Earth, marking the successful completion of the first crewed mission to the Moon’s vicinity in more than 50 years.
Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
The Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at 5:07 p.m. PDT, carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen back home after a nearly 10-day journey through deep space.
🚀 A Mission for the Record Books
During the mission, the crew traveled a total of 694,481 miles, reaching a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth—farther than any humans have ever gone, surpassing the Apollo 13 record set in 1970.
Launched on April 1 aboard NASA’s powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Artemis II tested critical systems needed for future missions, including life support, navigation, and deep space communication.
🌕 Science, Exploration, and Stunning Views
While orbiting the Moon, the astronauts captured more than 7,000 images, including views of the lunar far side, a rare solar eclipse, and detailed observations of craters, lava flows, and surface features.
The mission also included scientific experiments to better understand how the human body responds to deep space conditions, helping prepare for longer missions to the Moon and Mars.
🛰️ Safe Return and Recovery
Following splashdown, recovery teams quickly reached the spacecraft and transported the crew by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha for initial medical evaluations. The astronauts are expected to return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center for further assessments.
🌍 What Comes Next
With Artemis II complete, NASA is now turning its focus to Artemis III, the next mission aimed at landing astronauts on the Moon and establishing a long-term human presence.
The success of Artemis II marks a major step forward in humanity’s return to deep space—and the beginning of a new era of exploration.
For more information on NASA’s Artemis program, visit the official NASA website.
🔗 Source & Further Reading
- NASA Blog: Artemis II Flight Day 10 – Re-entry Live Updates
- NASA Artemis II Mission Overview
- NASA Artemis Program – Return to the Moon
- Orion Spacecraft Details and Technology
- NASA Image and Video Library (Artemis II Photos & Media)
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