113,000sf office building tops out in the Arts District

In the Downtown Los Angeles, real estate development firm Lowe has reached a milestone at its new Arts District office building.

The project, which broke ground in July 2020 at 2130 E. Violet Street, will consist of a nine-story edifice featuring 113,000 square feet of rentable space.  Less than a year after that start date, Lowe has completed vertical construction, topping out on the mid-rise edifice.

“The Violet Street office building will offer companies and individual employees a work environment with abundant natural light, operable windows and doors to bring fresh air and connection to California’s mild enticing climate, flexible space design options and outdoor gathering spaces, located in a burgeoning creative district,” said Lowe executive vice president Tom Wulf in a prepared statement.  “The events of the recent pandemic have highlighted and focused our efforts to deliver a new building that will meet the needs of employer’s health and wellness objectives.” 

The approximately 108-foot-tall structure, designed Ware Malcomb, will include four 27,000-square-foot floors of office space on its upper levels, with a five-story parking and retail podium located below.  Plans call for an exterior of concrete with steel details, with a green wall disguising the parking podium.  Large terraces are expected to provide indoor-outdoor space for tenants, who will also have access to a 3,000-square-foot rooftop deck.

Lowe is also making off-site improvements to Violet Street as a condition of the project's approval, including the construction of sidewalks, and the installation of crosswalks, lighting, landscaping, and a traffic signal.

Completion is anticipated in early 2022.

The 2130 Violet development is the latest in a series of new office complexes in the works for the Arts District, spurred by the arrival of name-brand tenants such as Spotify and Warner Music Group.

Directly across Violet Street, Onni Group is planning a larger mixed-use project which would also include a significant block of office space.  One block south at Bay Street, developers Jade Enterprises and Tishman Speyer are planning two developments which would include offices, in addition to street-fronting commercial uses.

Potentially the largest project is all is slated for a site located one block east on Santa Fe Avenue, where Warner Music Group's former parent company has teamed up with Hines on plans for a more than 450,000-square-foot office building.

• 2130 E Violet Street (Urbanize LA)