Griffin Capital plans major creative office complex in El Segundo

Site was rezoned from industrial, as city continues to lure tech tenants

Griffin Capital CEO Kevin A. Shields with a rendering of the project. (Griffin)
Griffin Capital CEO Kevin A. Shields with a rendering of the project. (Griffin)

Griffin Capital is planning a major creative office complex in El Segundo amid the city’s continued push to transform itself from industrial area to tech hub.

Griffin wants to build a 243,000-square-foot facility on two parcels at the intersection of East Grand Avenue and Kansas Street, according to Urbanize. The filing was part of a state-mandated environmental report.

The development site, which totals about five acres, had housed semiconductor manufacturing facilities. It resides in the Smoky Hollow district, a roughly 120-acre stretch of mostly industrial properties that El Segundo rezoned to attract tech companies.

El Segundo wants to turn the area into “a vigorous incubator district.” Officials there hope its tax structure and relatively cheap rents will pull in companies from pricier markets like Venice and Santa Monica, according to the report.

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Griffin wants to keep one structure on the property, add two new office buildings of three and four stories, and two six-story parking garages. The plans also call for 55,000 square feet of public open space and some private open spaces including balconies and roof decks.

The firm hopes to break ground by the end of the year and complete the project by mid-2023. EYRC Architects, Ware Malcomb and LRM are designing the project.

Griffin Capital’s project is the second major development to crop up since the rezoning. Smoky Hollow Industries and LIMO LP are building a 60,000-square-foot office building as the initial phase of a larger campus at Franklin Avenue and Oregon Street.

[Urbanize] — Dennis Lynch