Demand for Creative Space Drives Growth in LA Arts District
Legendary Group will build a 17-story, 350K SF spec creative office as demand for space soars.
Development continues to expand in LA’s thriving Arts District, a federally designated Opportunity Zone which used to be a seedy neighborhood full of old warehouses.
LA-based Legendary Group is planning to build a 17-story, 350K SF Class A speculative building for creative offices on South Hewitt St. The project, named Above, will include 311K SF of office space in 12 floors and 22K of ground-floor production space, as well as space for retail and/or food and beverage facilities.
Construction on Above will start next year and is scheduled to be completed in early 2026. Leasing will be handled by Cushman & Wakefield.
According to C&W, the building will be tailored for multiple, high-clear spaces in the ground floor production area and throughout the floors in the building, citing tremendous demand throughout the Arts District for space with the volume to support creative tenants.
“Of the 4 million square feet of new inquiries we’ve seen over the last 12 months in the Arts District, more than 25% of these requirements have included a need for high-clear space, and Above has been designed to meet the demands of the market,” C&W’s Brittany Winn said, in a statement.
According to C&W, demand is so strong in the Arts District, it is beginning to outweigh supply, adding that it received another 800K of space inquiries for the district in Q1.
Above will be the second major project for Legendary Group in the Arts District. In 2019, the group partnered with Brookfield Residential on Aliso, a mixed-use project with 472 apartments and 22K SF of ground-floor space.
Recent projects in the Arts District have included the members-only social club called Soho House and a 113K SF office project scheduled to be completed this year by a joint venture of Related Fund Management and the developer Lowe.
Continuum Partners has announced plans to build a $1.5B mixed-use development in the Arts District that will include more than 400K SF of office space and 1,500 multifamily units. Continuum also is developing a 13-story mixed-use project in the area.
Hines is planning to build a 450K SF creative office next to the Ford Factory site that was acquired by the parent company of Warner Music Group for $194M in 2020.
Last year, Rexford Industrial Realty acquired a four-building creative industrial business park for $94M and Atlas Capital Group announced it would build a $650M soundstage complex in proximity to the Arts District.