Lowe, Related Fund Management Launch $60M Los Angeles Office Project

2130 Violet St. Image courtesy of Lowe

Lowe and Related Fund Management have begun construction of a new office project at 2130 Violet St. in downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District. The 113,000-square-foot building, which boasts a design that’s conducive to accommodating post-pandemic office needs, will cost $60 million to complete.

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The development of 2130 Violet has been a long time coming, as Lowe had been ushering the project through the planning and predevelopment stages since 2017. Recently, Lowe established a joint venture with Related Fund to bring 2130 Violet to fruition, a partnership arranged with the assistance of Todd Tydlaska and Mike Caprio of CBRE and Mike Condon of Cushman & Wakefield, which is also handling leasing. Together, the partners are moving full-steam ahead with the nine-story, ground-up development despite the market uncertainty brought about by COVID-19.

“Advancing construction now allows it to be available once we are past the pandemic that is keeping workers out of the office,” Tom Wulf, executive vice president with Lowe, told Commercial Property Executive. “We believe that there remains a desire for people to work together in order to collaborate and socialize and for employers to build and grow their company culture.”

(New) normal office space

Located on the site of a former metal recycling facility, 2130 Violet will feature four levels of office space with 27,000-square-foot floorplates at the very top of the tower and 3,400 square feet of ground-level retail. Sandwiched between the office and retail will be four levels of parking with 275 spaces—a highly coveted amenity in the area. The Ware Malcomb-designed property will also feature a 3,000-square-foot rooftop deck for use as gathering and meeting space. As noted in a Cushman & Wakefield report on the future of the workplace, the purpose of the office [post-pandemic] will be to provide inspiring destinations that strengthens cultural connection, learning, bonding with customers and colleagues, and supports innovation. While 2130 Violet’s design emerged well before COVID-19, it appears to dovetail with office users’ new needs.

“The Violet St. building has always been designed to offer a smaller, flexible building with abundant outdoor spaces, usable balconies and operable windows, attributes which we believe will be in greater demand with new health and safety desires,” Wulf said. “The large floorplates allow tenants to evaluate a variety of layout options to suit their needs in a modern building, with state-of-the-art systems. In addition, we are committed to incorporating further improvements to enhance occupant health and safety through construction details. This may include touchless controls, enhanced outdoor air inclusion and perhaps new UV light technology.”

 Lowe and Related Fund obtained financing for 2130 Violet with the aid of Tim Meier and Matt Swanston at Preferred Capital Advisors. Swinerton is aboard the project as general contractor and expects to complete construction in early-2022.