Related affiliate joins with Lowe to build Arts District office complex

A Related Companies affiliate has teamed up with Los Angeles-based Lowe to develop a 113,000-square-foot office building in the Arts District.

The two firms announced the plan for the nine-story building this week; the project will rise at 2130 Violet Street. Lowe recently brought on Related Fund Management to finance the development, which just broke ground. The project has been in the works since at least 2016. Lowe secured city approval in 2018.

The top four floors will be for office space, with terraces “allowing for increased circulation of fresh air,” according to the release, perhaps a nod to the new coronavirus reality. A 3,000-square-foot roof deck is also planned. There will be 3,400 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and four levels of parking with 275 vehicle spaces. Swinerton is the general contractor, and the building is expected to be completed in early 2022.

The firm of Ware Malcomb designed the project and Cushman & Wakefield will manage leasing.

The site is in a federal Opportunity Zone district. The program provides tax breaks to developers and investors to boost development in distressed neighborhoods across the country.

When completed, the Violet Street project will be Lowe’s second in the Arts District — the firm completed construction of a 273,000-square-foot apartment complex on East 2nd Street in 2018.

Over the last several years, what had been a mostly industrial area has seen an increasing number of redevelopment projects with offices and retail spaces. Restaurants have also popped up, and there is a Stumptown Coffee Roasters around the corner.

The Lowe-Related project is next to the Ford Factory, a 271,000-square-foot industrial building that Shorenstein converted into office space. Warner Music Group purchased the building last year for $195 million and relocated its L.A. operation from Burbank. Warner had signed a lease for the property in 2016.