Yesterday’s passing of beloved Shirley Temple somehow seems a poetic bookend, occurring at the very moment John Kilroy was introducing a 21st Century vision at iconic Columbia Square. The title of one of her best-known movies would have fit this event: Hooray for Hollywood. Only now, the hi-tech, Millennial version. Your publisher was on hand.
John said he intends his $400M to $450M redevelopment to be the “most extraordinary, well-designed, and collaborative campus in California, maybe in America.” 100k SF will be a rehab of historic CBS Studios, which should wrap by the end of the year. 365k feet of new office construction, and a 20-story 180-unit extended residence tower for visiting movie industry types, should deliver by the end of next year.
Technically the event was a groundbreaking, but crews have already dug 75 feet down, starting four months ago. Kilroy purchased the square city block for $65M in late 2012, and together with its recent $48M acquisition of a four-acre former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences museum site nearby, plans to invest more than $800M in Hollywood mixed-use for creatives.
Landlord rep extraordinaire Carl Mulhstein and Kilroy EVP Rob Paratte say this “won’t be your father’s office,” but cutting-edge space for entertainment, media, and tech companies, “either up and comers or big names.” Available footage ranges from 10k for small users to 450k for a single tenant, they told us.
Built in 1938, the original structure gained fame for live radio and TV broadcasts by the likes of Burns and Allen and the Glen Miller orchestra, as well as Bing Crosby, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplan, and Barbra Streisand. Even the pilot for I Love Lucy was filmed here. With NBC at the corner of Sunset and Vine, the neighborhood was for a time the center of the TV universe until networks migrated to bigger space in Burbank and elsewhere.
District 13 councilman Mitch O’Farrell applauded the 1,300 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs Kilroy is bringing to a city with 10% unemployment; its commitment to preserve the original buildings’ “international modernism” style; and its sensitivity to providing green space (like a 3k SF pocket park) and retail amenities that reflect the “existing fabric of the community.”
John pointed out that the tall ceiling heights and maximum natural light, designed for a pre-air conditioning era, ironically created buildings well-suited to renovation for today's popular urban workplace style.
So why will companies choose Hollywood, with Silicon Beach beckoning? Papette cites proximity to the heart of the industry as well to legions of young talent choosing to live in West Hollywood, Downtown, and other areas nearby. Plus, a Metro station just a block away near the W Hotel.
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