The Los Angeles City Council recently approved the Century City Center, a 37-story development project that will become only the sixth LEED Platinum-certified high-rise in the nation. It will be built under a Project Labor Agreement (PLA).
The project was delayed by intense scrutiny from critics despite estimates that it will create 6,000 high-quality jobs. The project was supported by labor unions (who will do much of the work), community groups, environmental groups, and the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.
The project’s 700,000 square foot office building will include approximately 10,338 square feet of low-rise, one- and two-story office space, a 2,389-square foot Mobility Hub (to encourage Century City employees to utilize public and alternative transit options), a 39,037-square foot Transit Plaza, approximately 17,102 square feet of retail, and a partially subterranean parking structure with 1,530 stalls on the project site.
Century City Center will include a 2.14-acre landscaped green roof deck on the parking structure which would be open to members of the public between 6 am and 8 pm, seven days per week, as an additional public amenity.
Los Angeles Councilman Paul Koretz spoke before the final vote. He represents the Century City neighborhood and is thrilled about the project’s possibilities:
“This project will represent a landmark achievement for the city and for my district. It will include the first new built LEED platinum high-rise in Los Angeles. A beautifully designed building that will represent the city’s commitment to green and sustainable development.
This project will include more than two acres of green public space, it will provide numerous benefits to the community including a portal for the Metro Purple Line Century City station, extensive and creative traffic mitigation efforts, a peak hour shuttle service from Century City to the future Expo line, and substantial funding for regional transportation planning and improvements in the South Robertson and the Beverlywood areas,”
The PLA governing Century City Center’s construction will ensure a living wage and proper health care benefits. Other highlights of the development plans include:
The Century City Center will be the first LEED Platinum-certified high-rise building in Los Angeles and only the sixth in the nation. Here are just some of the features that the City Council approval has guaranteed:
It will also generate $4.3 million to the City of Los Angeles every year and generate $400 million in annual economic activity throughout the county.
* The environmentally friendly aspects of the project include: 7,000 square feet of solar photovoltaic panels; one of the largest habitable green roof spaces in California; a high-performance central plant that produces ice at night to melt during the day and provide efficient cooling; a passively cooled lobby using windows, fresh air, and a chilled lobby floor with a high-tech water feature that rejects heat; and reclaimed water from the building for landscape irrigation.
* Century City Center will feature a large public plaza. with shops, kiosks, and plentiful plantings, trees and shade, that will take advantage of existing transit options, as well as provide a ready connection to future advances as a potential portal location for the planned Purple Line mass transit Metro station. One of the key ways that the project will encourage transit use is the inclusion of a 1,300 square-foot mobility hub to assist the 50,000 employees who work in Century City and who want to get out of their cars and use alternative commuting strategies.
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously (12-0) to approve the project which features Bill Clinton’s Clinton Global Initiative as a partner.