Nostalgic Burbank Empire Center Has Air of Success

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Nostalgic Burbank Empire Center Has Air of Success

By JOHN BRINSLEY

Contributing Reporter





Rising above the Golden State Freeway in Burbank are replicas of airplanes from another era resting upon tall colored pylons. As it turns out, the models are part of the Burbank Empire Center that sits upon the site where Lockheed Corp. built planes until 1990.

Since opening last fall, the huge shopping center has been an unqualified hit for its tenants and owner, Los Angeles-based Zelman Development Co. With more than 900,000 square feet of retail space, the mall is 100 percent leased with, among others, Best Buy, Target, Krispy Kreme and Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse.

The developer and the city of Burbank are also pleased with the design of the mall, which pays tribute to the history of the site on which it is built.

Instead of a typical mission-style development common in Southern California, Burbank Empire Center is done in what might be described as industrial cool. Painted in bright orange, yellow and purple, the buildings nevertheless hark back to Lockheed’s glory days by resembling manufacturing plants. Industrial materials like corrugated metal and concrete block are used to evoke the history of the site. Large metal frames are used for signage, with rivets and aluminum trimming for the buildings. And, of course, the airplanes fly above the center.

“We were always faced with the fact that the Lockheed plant was gone,” said Brian Wolfe, a principal with Perkowitz + Ruth Architects, the Long Beach firm that designed the center. “This was a real win-win approach: it was respectful of the community’s history, it was something we thought we could build within budget, and it was a creative challenge.”

Superfund clean-up site

Getting the site rebuilt was a challenge in itself, one that took several years. When Lockheed closed the plant in 1990 it advertised the land for sale, as is. But hazardous gaseous organic compounds underground had contaminated the soil to the point where it was designated a Superfund clean-up site.

Several developers proposed overhauling the property, but they failed to secure funding or win the approval of the city of Burbank before Zelman got involved in early 1999, finally purchasing the land in 2000 for around $70 million.

As part of the sales agreement, Lockheed carried out extensive soil vapor removal, a remediation project that continues today, and Burbank approved the deal.

The development company then sold off portions of the site to Marriott Courtyard and Extended Stay America for hotels and San Jose’s Menlo Equities for office development, retaining just over 50 acres. Rejecting previous designs drawn up for the shopping center, Zelman warmed to the idea of paying homage to the Lockheed plant. That went over well with the city and community leaders.

“We’re just ecstatic about this thing,” said Roger Baker, Burbank’s deputy city planner. “The design is a real tribute to aviation and the colors are eye-catching. Thank God it’s not mission style.”

Originally the designers hoped to use some of the existing buildings Lockheed had left on the site, but eventually decided against it.

“It was impractical from the retailers’ side of things,” said Alan Pullman, a senior associate at Perkowitz + Ruth and the project’s design director. “In lieu of that, we tried to recall the industrial and aeronautical use of the land.”

At the same time, the architects were aware of the drawbacks of making it look too much like a manufacturing plant, hence the bright streets around it and from the freeway that abuts it.

“We didn’t want it to look to dry, like industrial wasteland,” Pullman said. “We wanted it to be bright and happy, (a place) where moms would want to go to.”

‘Remnant of the industrial age’

The needs of the retailers also had to be taken into account. The big box stores weren’t enthusiastic about all being under the same roof without the choice of designing their own signage. So both to link the separate buildings and as another nod to the past, a huge steel gantry was constructed over one major portion of the center. A canopy more than 40 feet high and over 500 feet long, the gantry hovers over the site unlike anything a mall shopper has ever seen. A smaller one hangs over a food court that sits opposite it across the vast parking lot.

“It’s like a remnant of the industrial age,” Pullman. “And it’s a sun shade when it gets hot. And at night it calls attention to (the shopping center) because it lights up.”

Then there are the airplanes on the pylons. Between 10-12 feet tall and 28 feet wide, the three models are replicas of actual planes once built by Lockheed the SR-71 “Blackbird” reconnaissance plane, the P-38 fighter and the EC-121 Constellation. A fourth, the B-40 Vega, known as the “Flying Fortress,” will hang above one of the hotels once construction is completed.

Pylons are a necessary evil for shopping centers near freeways, since they are visible from far away and double as signs for the retailers. Generally unsightly, they have become the distinguishing mark of the Burbank Empire Center because of the famous planes that lie on top of them. And it is likely that the name of the center (so called because it fronts Burbank and Empire boulevards) will be changed. “I’ve already heard kids saying, ‘let’s go to the place where the airplanes are, mommy,'” Burbank’s Baker said.

Meanwhile, Burbank residents, long ignored by major retailers, seem to be receiving Burbank Empire well. “Every tenant we have has been ecstatic,” said Zelman president Ben Reiling. “Sales numbers have been well above projections. Everybody has had extremely strong openings.”


Best Architectural Design

Project: Burbank Empire Center

Players: Brian Wolfe, principal, Perkowitz + Ruth Architects; Alan Pullman, senior associate, Perkowitz + Ruth; Ben Reiling, Zelman Development Corp.

The Deal: Transforming the contaminated Lockheed manufacturing site in Burbank into a 900,000 square foot retail center with several national big-box tenants. The design pays homage to the aerospace legacy of the city and the site.

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