Culver City WELCOME HOME

Sony Pictures Entertainment will officially relocate its corporate offices to a new building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in 2017. The company’s current home, a mid-rise structure in Downtown Culver City, is now in the hunt for its first new occupant in over two decades. Sony Pictures Plaza, designed by the late architect Maxwell Starkman, features more than 260,000 square feet of office space in an eight-story structure at 10000 W.

Construction on the Expo Line’s bridge over Venice Blvd. In a few short years, this bridge help carry thousands of passengers every day between Downtown Santa Monica and Downtown Los Angeles.

I was surprised to find that signs are still up for the Entrada, a 13 story Gensler designed office tower intended for a Culver City parking lot near Playa Vista. The 220 foot tall/340,000 square foot proposal from Centinela Development Partners first emerged in 2008, but has yet to show any physical signs of progress. The development was met by stiff opposition from neighbors in Culver City and Westchester, citing concerns about blocked views and increased traffic congestion.

While picking up some dinner at the Wood Cafe in Culver City, I noticed a forklift and a backhoe hanging out on the dirt lot across the street. Earlier this year, LA Business Journal reported (via Curbed LA) that Canadian based Bastion Development Corporation had plans for a 30 unit mixed-use building on this corner. It appears that Bastion has started prepping the site for construction of the development, now named “Olive.” I like the wood paneling, but that is one extremely loud shade of green.

Last week, real estate firm Lowe Enterprises received rave reviews from the Los Angeles City Planning Commission for Ivy Station, a proposed mixed-use complex which would replace Culver City Station’s park-and-ride lot at Venice and National Boulevards. The project, which is being jointly developed with the engineering and construction firm AECOM, would consist of multiple low-rise structures featuring 200 residential units, a 148-key hotel, 210,000 square feet of commercial office space.

Culver City’s Hayden Tract has long served as an architectural playground for Eric Owen Moss. In recent years, the SCI-Arc director has designed a variety of undulating structures that decorate the former industrial neighborhood, including a vertical cactus garden and the Samitaur Tower (a familiar landmark to Expo Line passengers). Moss’ latest creation is a four-story mini-tower dubbed “Waffle,” currently taking form on Hayden Avenue. World Architecture News reports that the project will stand 55 feet tall, containing a conference area, mezzanine lounge, closed meeting space and a rooftop deck.

A year and a half after the Expo Line finally brought rail service back to the Westside, Culver City is up to its ears in transit oriented developments. Earlier this week, heavy equipment and sidewalk scaffolding showed up at the abandoned used car dealership across the street from Culver City Station. It looks like the Runyon Group’s highly anticipated mixed-use complex, known as “The Platform,” is finally starting construction. The project, designed by Abramson Teiger Architects, will create ample retail, restaurant and office space just east of Downtown Culver City.

My oh my, that is a lot of dirt. Kitty-corner to the Expo Line’s Culver City Station, construction crews are busy with excavation work for Access Culver City. The mixed-use development from Greystar Real Estate Partners is slated to open its doors in 2015, creating 115 apartments above ground floor commercial space. The five-story structure, designed by Togawa Smith Martin, will greet the intersection of Washington and National Boulevards with a 7,000 square foot public plaza.

While Canadian developers are planning skyscrapers for Downtown Los Angeles, development schemes are a little more subdued on the low-slung Westside. Out in Culver City, the Vancouver-based Bastion Development Corporation is midway through construction on the Oliver Apartments, a mixed-use complex featuring 30 residential units and roughly 8,700 square feet of ground floor retail space. Renderings of the project portray a modern, four-story structure, accented with wood paneling and large street level windows.

While foundation work for Access Culver City moves slower than molasses, the Runyon Group is making quick work of their mixed-use development across the street. The Platform at Culver City broke ground in November 2013, and is slated to offer more than 80,000 square feet of high end retail, destination restaurants, and creative office space when complete. Designed by Abramson Teiger Architects, the project entails several new buildings, in addition to the adaptive reuse of two existing low-rise structures.