Six months after we last checked in, the curving steel skeleton of the Eric Owen Moss-designed Wrapper office tower is starting to take shape next to Metro's La Cienega/Jefferson Station in Baldwin Hills.
The project, which replaced a parking lot at 5790 Jefferson Boulevard, will consist of a 17-story building containing 180,000 square feet of office space atop parking and ground-floor retail.
The signature element of the building's design is a "continuous system of curvilinear ribbons," wrapping the exterior, allowing for an open interior without columns. The development will offer floor plates up to 22,000 square feet, with some floors featuring double-height ceilings up to 24 feet. Renderings show that the tower would be capped with a penthouse and rooftop deck, sitting more than 200 feet above ground level.
Construction was previously anticipated to wrap up in 2021.
Samitaur, the developer behind the tower, has worked with Eric Owen Moss Architects on a number of similarly abstract office complexes in the surrounding Hayden Tract. The two firms are planning another high-rise office building that would replace a parking lot just south of the Wrapper site.
The office tower is one of two high-rise buildings now under construction within walking distance of La Cienega/Jefferson Station. The other, a 31-story structure called ARQ, is part of the 11-acre Cumulus housing and retail complex.
- Wrapper (Urbanize LA)
