Santa Monica-based Luzzatto Co. Inc. started construction work last week on Expo Station, an 80,000-square-foot office development near the Expo Line’s Expo-Bundy stop in West Los Angeles.
Luzzatto purchased the underlying property in June of last year for $16.7 million. The company declined to give figures on the cost of the development, but the project is estimated to be completed by the first quarter of 2019.
The Expo Station development includes Ron Harari, chief executive of Century City’s Tova Capital Inc., as a partner. He holds an undisclosed stake in the project.
The five-story project at 12414 Exposition Blvd. will have three levels of creative office space above a two-level parking structure, according to the company. The building features more than 16,000 square feet of outdoor patio areas, a bar, barbecue grills as well as unobstructed ocean and city views, according to Luzzatto. The interior space will offer 16- to 25-foot ceilings, polished concrete floors and exposed wood trusses.
“Unlike the majority of creative space on the Westside which has come to market as adaptive reuse of obsolete buildings, Expo Station is not restricted to the size and scope of an older existing structure,” said company Chairman Marc Luzzatto in a statement. “As a result, we were able to design a building from scratch with its own distinct character, and features that specifically meet the demands of today’s creative talent in L.A.’s burgeoning technology and media/entertainment industries.”
The Class A office project is being built at a time when more companies – particular in the tech and entertainment sectors – are looking for office space on the Westside. Companies already in the vicinity include Lions Gate Entertainment, Sony Music, Riot Games, Beachbody and Hulu.
“Expo Station will be unlike any creative space on the Westside,” Tova’s Harari said in a statement. “It will be an iconic building in a core location that combines all the elements desired by the creative tenancy in the market, such as access to mass transit, large collaborative workspaces, and idea-inspiring common areas.”
The L.A. office of New York-based architectural firm HLW International designed Expo Station. L.A.-based Essey Construction Co. Inc. is building the development.
– Neil Nisperos
