Land in L.A.’s Westside Area Snapped Up for $115M Office Project

IDS Real Estate Group has revealed plans to develop a 277,600-square-foot office building in Los Angeles’s Westside on a 3.3-acre parcel of land it just acquired in Culver City. The company will shell out $115 million to complete the project.The new Class A office building, Corporate Pointe Tower, will sit within the 1.6 million-square-foot Corporate Pointe office campus just off the 405 Freeway, one of the busiest thoroughfares in a city of incredibly busy thoroughfares. Carrying the address of 700 Corporate Pointe, the structure will be designed by global architectural firm Gensler and will be developed to adhere to LEED Silver standards. IDS scored a coup with the purchase of the land, orchestrated by real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield Inc., as it was the last remaining parcel in the highly coveted corporate park.Culver City, despite its proximity to such hotspots as Century City and Beverly Hills, is not traditionally considered part of the West Los Angeles submarket. However, because of high demand and even higher prices in areas farther west, Culver City has become a leading choice for businesses seeking more reasonable prices in an area that is just on the fringe of the West Los Angeles submarket. As per a fourth quarter 2007 report by real estate services firm Grubb & Ellis Co., the average asking rate for Class A space in Culver City is a monthly $3.81 per square foot, compared to $5.14 in neighboring Century City and $6.03 in the beach community of Santa Monica. “Culver City has been picking up for the last year,” Kathleen Silver, senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis, told CPN today. “Rental rates are growing and more properties are becoming available as new developments come online.” The area, which is the home of Sony Pictures Studios and previous longtime home of MGM Studios, has evolved into an enclave for creative companies, such as top architectural firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, and Symantec, which recently completed a 500,000-square-foot campus at Corporate Pointe. While Culver City has moved up in the Westside world, it may be on the verge of reaching its peak. “I don’t think it will ever go back to being West L.A.’s stepchild, but I don’t think it will get much stronger,” Silver said. As for IDS’s Corporate Pointe Tower, a construction start date has not been announced, but all entitlements and approvals are in place. Headquartered in Los Angeles, IDS is a commercial and residential real estate firm that is active across the western United States. The company’s portfolio includes over 20 million square feet of projects, in addition to 4 million square feet of projects that are currently being developed with partners.