Take a hard look down Millennium Drive into the heart of Playa Vista's mixed-use construction binge.  The above image--sent yesterday by an e-mail tipster--portrays several of the structures which will eventually define the planned community's main commercial hub.

Near the center of the photograph, we see a construction crane raised high above Lincoln Property Company's Runway at Playa Vista.  The $260 million development will stretch from McConnell Avenue to Village Drive, offering wide sidewalks flanked by more than 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.  Tenants will reportedly include Whole Foods Market, CVS Pharmacy and Cinemark Theatres.

Above ground level, the Johnson Fain-designed complex will offer 420 apartments and 35,000 square feet of creative office space.  Residential and commercial buildings will occupy both sides of Millennium Drive, rising between four and five stories in height.



Runway's retail stalls will gradually blend into the adjacent Skylar residences, located center right in the above image.  Developed by KB Home, the single-story units are described as "coastal contemporary flats," ranging from approximately 1,900 to 2,500 square feet in size.  With prices starting in the "low $1,000,000s," it doesn't seem like CVS checkout clerks are the target market here.


Out of frame to the right, work is underway on a slew of other residential developments, including an affordable senior housing complex known as The Woods.  Further east, construction continues on a 700-unit apartment community from the Irvine Company.  To the left, steel beams are now rising for the IMAX Corporation's $45 million West Coast headquarters.