City Planners Bless JMB's Green Tower
JMB Realty VP of development and operations Sarah Shaw (with husband Steve), a speaker at Bisnow's Future of Century City (June 26 at Constellation Place; sign up here) tells us the company's Century City Center project just got approval from the LA Planning Commission. The 37-story, 730k SF office tower is designed to be LA's first new build LEED Platinum high-rise and only one of a handful in the country. The project will create 4,600 construction jobs and 1,400 permanent jobs. As part of its sustainability efforts, it'll boast a portal for the hoped-for Metro Purple Line extension, a mobility hub that will offer transit schedules/passes, bike rentals and lockers, Zipcars, and vanpool and carpool matching, and a two-acre green roof that will address the heat island effect and stormwater runoff. (Heat Island Effect is also the name of an action movie we're writing. Don't steal it.)
The Johnson Fain-designed project will feature a 40k SF plaza at the corner of Constellation and Avenue of the Stars, and is expected to become a central gathering place for all of Century City. The next steps are to go before PLUM (LA's planning and land-use management committee) and then the full City Council, which Sarah anticipates in late summer and early fall, respectively. She notes JMB has been involved in Century City for more than 30 years and has owned most of the real estate here at one time or another. They developed and own 1999 Avenue of the Stars and Constellation Place, and they also own the Century Park West Parking Garage as well as a surface lot on Century Park East. When Sarah does leave Century City, her vacations usually include golf.