A Quick Trip Through the Sunset Boulevard Boom

This past weekend, a broken water main spilled untold gallons of precious drinking water onto the Sunset Strip, dealing yet another blow to drought-stricken California.  On the other hand, flooding of a more figurative (and less dire) sort is also occurring further east along the iconic thoroughfare.  Let's for get about LADWP's woes for a moment as we check in on the deluge of mixed-use developments adding new office space and residential units between Vine Street and the Hollywood Freeway.

As reported in mid-September, Hudson Pacific Properties has quietly broken ground on the long planned expansion of Sunset Bronson Studios (see above).  The $150 million project will ultimately create over 400,000 square feet of Class-A office space, mostly contained within a 14-story, Gensler-designed tower.  The staggered massing of the stout, 200-foot building will create a unique presence within the mid-rise Hollywood skyline.  Currently, construction crews are removing asphalt from the southeast corner of the SBS campus, clearing the way for an immense 1,600-vehicle parking garage.

Just across the street, excavation is still in progress for the Metropolitan West Apartments, a new residential development from Cornerstone Holdings, LLC.  Plans designed by Santa Monica-based VTBS Architects call for a six-story structure, containing 79 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments above a two-and-a-half level parking garage.  The project, which is considered an expansion of the adjacent Metropolitan Hollywood mixed-use complex, was initially proposed prior to the global recession.  For unknown reasons, plans indicate that the building will not include ground-level commercial space.

One block west, leasing is now underway for CIM Group's 23-story Sunset Gordon development.  The 260-foot tower, designed by Portland's GBD Architects, offers 300 luxury apartments and 40,000 square feet of creative office space above 14,000 square feet of street-level retail space.  Despite significant value engineering, the finished product has faithfully recreated the facade of the 1920s structure which previously occupied the project site.  The former one-story edifice housed a wide variety of tenants during its nine-decade lifespan, including an automobile showroom, two radio stations, and the Hollywood location of the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant chain.

Before the series of controversial high-rise proposals near the Capitol Records Building, Sunset Gordon served as the preeminent lightning rod for anti-development sentiment in Hollywood.  Most recently, government watchdogs expressed concern when CIM Group requested $1.25 million from the city for the construction of an adjacent public park.  This request followed $3.688 million granted to to Gerdling Edlen - CIM Group's predecessor as developer - for the same purpose in 2008.  Nonetheless, the one-acre Gordon Street Park is now complete, adding some much needed green space to park-starved Hollywood. 

Continuing the westward march, construction is in full swing throughout Kilroy Realty's Columbia Square development, a sprawling project which encompasses the full city block bounded by Sunset Boulevard, Gower Street, Selma and El Centro Avenues.  The complex's handsome William Lescaze-designed buildings, built in 1938, will soon be home to a combination of creative office space, stores and restaurants.  Kilroy Realty has already snagged one major tenant for the campus, in the form of a 15-year, 93,000 square foot lease with upscale co-working space NeueHouse.

However, construction is most visible north of the historic broadcast facility, where concrete and rebar now protrudes above street level.  Kilroy Realty is adding 300,000 square feet of new office space to the site, in the form of three glassy, six-story buildings designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios.  A 20-story, 200-unit residential tower is also underway at the corner of Selma and El Centro Avenue (foreground of the above photograph), adding a mixture of short-term and long-term rental units.  Unseen is Columbia Square's four-and-a-half level parking garage, which will sit underneath the newly constructed buildings.

Photo credit: Crescent Heights and Harley Ellis Devereaux

Other nearby properties are also expected to birth mixed-use developments in the near future.   West of Columbia Square, Miami-based Crescent Heights is planning two high-rise towers surrounding the Hollywood Palladium.  The twin 28-story buildings, designed by Natoma Architects, could feature a combination of hotel rooms and condominiums above ground-level retail and restaurant space.  Directly across the street, Palo Alto-based Essex Property Trust is scheduled to break ground next year on a seven-story apartment complex next to the Earl Carroll Theatre.

• Dissecting the Hollywood/Vine Construction Binge (Building Los Angeles)

New 17-Story Office Building Proposed for Sunset Blvd

Prepare to say goodbye to another surface parking lot on Sunset Boulevard.  According to information from the Department of City Planning, an office development is slated for the northwestern corner of Sunset and Bronson.  The specs read as follows:

5901 W SUNSET BLVD

DEVELOP NEW 17-STORY MIXED-USE PROJECT WITH 274,000 SQ FT OFFICE AND 26,000 (SQ FT) OF RETAIL

5901 Sunset is owned by a subsidiary of Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP).  HPP also owns the Sunset Bronson Studios located across the street, where they have plans for a 14-story tower containing over 300,000 square feet of office space. I have reached out to a representative of HPP about the new proposal, and will update if I am provided with more information.

Although the overall Los Angeles office market remains sluggish, HPP is not the only company looking to build new space.  At this time, over one million square feet of office space is either planned or under construction in Hollywood.  Besides the two projects from Hudson Pacific Properties, here are some of the other developments contributing to that figure:

• CIM Group's under-construction Sunset Gordon project includes just under 40,000 square feet of office space.

• Kilroy Realty's Columbia Square re-development will bring 330,000 square feet of office to the market by late 2015.

• The J.H. Snyder Company has two Hollywood office projects looking to break ground within the next year: a 245,000 square foot campus at 959 Seward and a 114,000 square foot building at 1601 Vine. 

• The controversial Millennium Hollywood development could contain upwards of 215,000 square feet of office space. 

While office vacancy rates in Hollywood are currently in the double-digits, that number only tells part of the story. Bloomberg Businessweek reported in 2012 that only one-third of Hollywood's current office stock meets Class-A criteria. The upcoming developments seek to rectify this problem, making the neighborhood more capable of attracting tenants from the tech and entertainment industries.

Some of the large scale office projects coming to Hollywood in the next few years.  Clockwise from the top right: Kilroy Realty's Columbia Square, J.H. Snyder's 959 Seward, the Millennium Hollywood, J.H. Snyder's 1601 Vine, and the Sunset Bronson Studio Tower

• Case Information Summary Sheet (Department of City Planning)

Big Sunset Bronson Studios Expansion to Break Ground Next Week

Icon at SBS (Image credit: Hudson Pacific Properties)

Hollywood's well documented construction boom continues to surge, as yet another skyline altering project prepares to break ground near the 101 Freeway.  According to Bisnow, local landlord Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP) plans to begin work next week on a long-awaited expansion of Sunset Bronson Studios (SBS).  The $150 million development, designed by architectural firm Gensler, will retool the eastern side of the SBS campus with a new parking garage and approximately 400,000 square feet of office and production space.

HPP's expansion project is highlighted by Icon, a 14-story office tower slated for the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue.  The 315,000 square foot structure will stand roughly 200 feet tall, creating a commanding presence above the nearby freeway trench.  An August piece from the Architect's Newspaper describes the building as featuring "five rectangular, stacked volumes, offset horizontally to create exterior terraces."  Facade elements will variate between precast panels and a glass curtain wall, breaking down the tower's broad, imposing scale.

Moving south from Sunset Boulevard, the project will include two new buildings of a lower height profile.  The first, a five-story production building, will contain 90,000 square feet of production office space and a ground-level cafe.  The second, a seven-story garage, will rise adjacent to the production building and offer parking accommodations for 1,600 vehicles.

Gensler's design for the project attempts to maintain architectural harmony with the campus's numerous historic structures.  The 150-foot KTLA radio antenna, a well-known local landmark, will be moved to its original location on Bronson Avenue to make room for Icon.  The plan also gives several nods to the SBS Executive Office Building, a charming colonial edifice which once housed the headquarters of Warner Brothers.  The new office tower will feature an offset above its third floor, so as to match the eave line of its historic neighbor.  Other tributes to the 1920s structure include decorative free-standing columns, a masonry fence line, and a landscaped setback along Sunset Boulevard.

In stark contrast to most of the Los Angeles region, Hollywood has seen strong demand for new office space in recent years.  In fact, Icon is just one of several speculative developments currently proposed or under construction within the neighborhood.  Four blocks west, developer Kilroy Realty is in the process of transforming CBS Columbia Square into a mixed-use complex with more than 300,000 square feet of creative office space.  At the intersection of Selma Avenue and Vine Street, the J.H. Snyder Company is scheduled to break ground on a long-delayed 112,000 square foot project later this year.  Further down the pipeline, HPP also plans a second office tower for a parking lot on the north side of Sunset Boulevard

Image credit: Gensler via the Architect's Newspaper

Sunset Bronson Studios, outlined in red.

• Colliers Wins the Lottery... (Bisnow)
• Office Tower to Rise Next to Historic Hollywood Studio (Los Angeles Times)
• Gensler Goes Hollywood With "Vertical Campus" (Architect's Newspaper)
• Sunset Bronson Studios Entertainment Center FEIR (LADCP)

Another Office Tower Planned on Sunset Boulevard

Site Plan for 5901 Sunset Boulevard

Construction cranes have become a common sight in the Hollywood skyline over the past two years, and a newly proposed development from Hudson Pacific Properties would keep them around for the foreseeable future.  Earlier today, the Department of City Planning released an environmental report for a new 274,000 square foot office building at 5901 Sunset Boulevard.  The 18-story tower, designed by Gensler, would include six-stories of above-grade parking and 26,000 square feet of retail space at street level.  With an architectural apex 260 feet above ground, 5901 Sunset would provide tenants with landscaped courtyards on its upper office levels.  Vehicular ingress and egress for the tower's 1,118 stall garage would be provided along the Bronson Avenue side of the property, preserving the the building's Sunset Boulevard frontage for pedestrians.  Construction is scheduled to last 22 months, with completion expected in 2017.

Hudson Pacific Properties' newest office building comes to light as a variety of large, mixed-use projects are either planned or under construction on Sunset Boulevard.  At Sunset and Gower, Kilroy Realty is building over 300,000 square feet of office space as part of its redevelopment of Columbia Square.  Next-door to 5901 Sunset, the Hollywood-based CIM Group is pushing towards completion on their 23-story Sunset Gordon tower.  Across the street, Emerson College recently opened its stunning new Los Angeles campus.  Finally, one block east of 5901 Sunset, Hudson Pacific Properties is planning another Gensler-designed office tower on the Sunset Bronson Studios campus.

• New 17-story Office Building Proposed for Sunset Blvd (Building Los Angeles)
• Initial Study 5901 Sunset (LA City Planning)