VW Assembles $17.7M Lease for Design Team

Chris Houge of Insignia's Century City office tells GlobeSt.com that Volkswagen expects to move into the facility in the fall, following the completion of tenant improvements. Houge and Insignia's Hunt Barnett, Rick Buckley and Monte Richardson, all from the Century City office, represented Volkswagen in the 13-year, $17.7-million lease with building owner Supermarine of Santa Monica, which was represented internally by Kris Thabit.

Houge says the new space will be ideal for Volkswagen of America not only because it is larger than the company's current 30,000-sf facility in Simi Valley, but also because the Museum of Flying is a unique building that provides a number of features well-suited for a design studio.

"This is a one-of-a-kind building with a huge atrium that Volkswagen likes because it will enable the designers to view the cars from a number of different angles, not only on the atrium floor, but also from different floors," Houge says. The building is a three-story structure with mezzanine space that affords views from many angles and locations throughout the building.

Volkswagen also chose the new location because it puts the vehicle designers in the center of the Southern California auto market, according to Torsten Goeckeritz, head of the design studio. Volkswagen will occupy the entire 53,471-sf facility at 2772 Donald Douglas Loop, which was built in the early 1980s and is part of an airport business park.

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, MI. It is is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, the world's fourth largest automaker.

The Museum of Flying, which houses a collection of World War II war planes, was originally founded as the Donald Douglas Museum and Library in 1974, moving to its current location in April 1989. The museum announced some time ago that it would be moving, but it has not yet announced a new location.