Purple office project proposed in DTLA’s Arts District

A New York developer wants to paint the skyline above the Los Angeles Arts District purple.

Skanska USA Commercial Development filed plans to build a 15-story office tower at 1727-1829 East Sacramento Street in Downtown, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. It would be wrapped from top to bottom like a Slinky with purple and magenta bands.

Plans call for a 290,000-square-foot office building with 13,200 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants. Parking would serve 582 cars, with an undetermined amount of open space.

The 1811 Sacramento Street development, as it’s known, would be built on 1.84 acres that now contain single-story industrial buildings, as seen on Google Maps. Skanska paid $18.9 million for two industrial warehouses in 2020 at that address and at 1825 East Sacramento Street, according to CoStar.

Skanska, which claims a Los Angeles development portfolio that goes back a century, initially envisioned a 13-story tower with 5,000 square feet of retail space.

The project, designed by Chicago-based Perkins&Will, would feature a contemporary high-rise with interior courtyards and terrace decks – with an uncontemporary look for L.A.’s artsy neighborhood.

The building would include floor-to-ceiling glass windows with large industrial-style frames, encased in a swirling cage of metal bands, rising above the drab district in a dizzying swirl of purple.

The Arts District has become a hub for new entertainment and media offices for such companies as Warner Music Group and Spotify. New York-based East End Capital just announced a $1 billion production studio.

Despite the uncertainty in the office market, tower developments are in the works by Onni Group, Jade Enterprises, Tishman Speyer Hines and Legendary Group.

Skanska USA, the U.S. subsidiary of the Swedish construction company, is building a four-story office building at 9000 Wilshire Boulevard and plans to construct a three-story office building at 8633 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

— Dana Bartholomew

Read more

Los Angeles

Skanska ramps up in LA, plans office project in Beverly Hills

Texas

Skanska making green waves in the oil and gas capital