The Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Olympics was looking for office space as they geared up for the Olympics. Rents in LA, especially for a short term

The Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Olympics was looking for office space as they geared up for the Olympics. Rents in LA, especially for a short term (1-2 years lease) were sky high because the raw land values are so high. So they cut a deal with UCLA: UCLA leased them a little-used parking lot on the edge of campus for $1 per year. The Organizing committee put up a brand new office building at their own expense in that space and used it for their offices in a prime area of Los Angeles. After the Olympics finished and their activity wound down the Committee donated the building back to UCLA, which thus got a building for free (now known as the Peter Uberroth building). The total cost to the Olympic committee was much less than leasing existing office space.