Lowe Tops Out Los Angeles Office Tower

2130 Violet St. Rendering courtesy of Lowe

Lowe has topped out construction at its newest creative office building in Los Angeles’ Arts District. Construction began in July 2020, after Lowe and Related Fund Management—an affiliate of Related Cos.— formed a joint venture for the new development.

The nine-story office building is situated within a designated Opportunity Zone and has been in the planning and pre-development stages since 2017. The project is expected to be complete in early 2022.

Swinerton was selected as general contractor, Ware Malcomb serves as architect for the building, while a team of Cushman & Wakefield brokers will manage leasing efforts. According to CommercialEdge data, the developers received a $54.1 million construction loan, provided by Bank OZK last year and arranged by Preferred Capital Advisors.

The 113,000-square-foot office tower will be situated at 2130 E. Violet St. in the Southern part of the Arts District. The ground floor benefits from a 3,400-square-foot retail component, while the first four levels will be dedicated to parking, with 275 spaces. The top four office floors will feature 27,000-square-foot open floorplates, energy efficiency systems, HVAC, operable windows as well as outdoor terraces and meeting areas. Workers will also have access to a 3,000-square-foot rooftop deck.

Wellness-oriented

The ground-up development features a wellness-oriented design. Developers are adapting to a new reality of the office space, anticipated to accommodate a hybrid work model, as flexible and creative office design are spearheading the Los Angeles market’s recovery.

Developers are also working on improving the walkability and infrastructure of the surrounding area. Lowe will add public sidewalks, crosswalks, a traffic signal, trees, street lighting and landscaping across the Violet Street frontage. Multiple shopping and dining destinations are within a one-mile radius of the property. Alternative transportation will be encouraged by adding bike storage spaces and access to car, bike and scooter sharing services.

Lowe has also teamed up with AECOM-Canyon Partners is also constructing Ivy Station, a 500,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Culver City. Some of its features include a 240,000-square-foot office component, entirely leased by HBO, and a 149-key hotel that will be operated by Hyatt.

The East Los Angeles submarket is experiencing an uptick in construction activity, as pandemic-induced slowdowns have receded. In 2020, the submarket saw the addition of some 313,000 square feet of new office space, CommercialEdge data shows. Currently, there is about 550,000 square feet of office space under construction (including Lowe’s Violet Street project). Four of these projects are situated in Opportunity Zones.