Southern California real estate giant Irvine Company further retreated from downtown San Diego with the recent sale of a west Broadway skyscraper, offloading the office property for less than half of what it paid for the building nearly 20 years ago.

Commercial real estate operator XYZ purchased the 421,661-square-foot office building at 501 W. Broadway for $69 million, property records show. Irvine Company paid $150 million for the tower in 2006.

Overall office vacancy downtown is 36%, said real estate tracker CoStar. New downtown office spaces, like The Campus at Horton , have struggled to fill offices.

Still, residential construction downtown remains robust , Comic-Con had another booming year in the Gaslamp and lots of big projects are still being proposed.

Question: Is Irv

See Full Page