This is a sad workaround for a simple and basic drafting tool. I tried doing a copy and scale of the LO object, but the curves don't scale correctly to serve as an offset. I model in SU Pro and detail in LO, this way the model doesn't get bigger than 15 megs (which is still pretty large in my opinion).
What sucks about this workaround is that it creates exponential more work to complete a simply task of offsetting a line in LO. Setbacks like these make me seriously consider going back to AutoCAD and those very mature drafting tools.