One California a bellwether?

The 42-story Bunker Hill office tower, which has been on the market since January, could provide some clues on just how low L.A. commercial real estate can go. WSJ reports that the property has generated lots of low-ball interest, which presents a problem for majority owner Macquarie Office Trust. Brokers expect a deal to be in the $200 million to $240 million range, reports the Journal. Macquarie, the battered Australia-based real estate investment trust, purchased an 80 percent stake in the building in 2006 from L.A.-based Maguire Properties. At the time the property was valued at $325 million.

Since there have been so few sales, the price of One California would be closely scrutinized as a harbinger of the losses sellers will need to take if they want to get cash out of prime downtown properties. While a few high-profile office buildings in other cities have sold, some for as little as half of their peak value, no large office buildings in downtown L.A. have traded hands this year, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York-based research firm. "Everybody's starved ... for people to actually buy," says Whitley Collins, senior managing director with Jones Lang LaSalle in Los Angeles. "Whether this is a bottom or not, people will feel better knowing there's some activity."

Only 76 percent of One California is leased and a number of leases are set to expire in the next few years. That includes Bank of the West, which occupies about 78,625 square feet of space,