By Lookout Staff

October 29, 2026 -- The Clock Tower in Downtown Santa Monica has sold for $28.5 million in a distressed sale that saw the iconic office building fetch about half its purchase price in 2019.

Court documents "revealed the buyer to be an entity connected to the Mani brothers -- Simon, Daniel and Joseph Mani, who are behind Mani Brothers Real Estate Group in West Hollywood," according to a report in The Real Deal Wednesday.

The 12-story building at 225 Santa Monica Boulevard was placed in receivership after Rockwood Capital defaulted on its loan.

"The special servicer, Rialto Capital, sued and alleged Rockwood owed about $25 million," the Real Deal reported. "The loan had been in special servicing since its May 2025 maturity date and in court since September of that year."

Rockwell had purchased the property shortly before the coronavirus shutdown from Sorgente Group of America for $58 million and "assumed the about $27 million commercial mortgage-backed securities debt."

Constructed between 1929 and 1930 at the start of the Great Depression, the Art Deco style building was for four decades Santa Monica's tallest structure. It was designated as a local historic landmark in 2004.

Named the Guaranty Building, the tower was built by the Bay Cities Guaranty and Loan Association , Santa Monica's leading lending institution before the Wall Street crash in 1929, according to the Santa Monica Conservancy.

"When the building opened in January, 1930 the Outlook newspaper declared it 'a step forward in the advancement of the business section of Santa Monica and a vast change in Santa Monica’s skyline,'” the Conservancy notes.

Over the years, the building's concrete exterior and the metal cladding were deteriorated by the building's "severe exposure to ultraviolet light and airborne salt," according to the California Preservation Foundation's website.

"Almost 100 years later, spalling of concrete due to corrosion of reinforcement was present throughout the building as well as corrosion of the exposed metal panels at the clock tower.

"Previous repair work had also deteriorated," said the Foundation, which gave the Clock Tower its 2025 Design Award for Preservation or Restoration. "The building had been painted many times, with up to seventeen layers of paint in some locations."

The interior of the building has also undergone many modifications, housing "numerous medical, dental, law, and other offices," according to the Santa Monica Conservancy, which gave the building its 2024 Preservation Award in the Rehabilitation.

"Happily, a recent renovation has restored much of its former integrity, allowing the tower to reclaim its rightful place at the heart of the central business district."

Commentary on Morningstar Credit "cited in The Real Deal notes that the buyer purchased the property late last month, assumed the loan and extended the maturity date to May 2027."

According to the latest Morningstar data, the Clock Tower offices were 43 percent occupied and "were not bringing in enough cash to pay off the debt."

Data provided by Colliers, the leading diversified professional services and investment management company, indicate that Santa Monica offices have a 28.5 percent vacancy rate.