Amenities for Tenants Stressed in $45-Million Westwood Place
Westwood Place, a $45-million, 15-story office tower under construction on the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Glendon Avenue, is Held Properties’ most current expression of its building development concept.
Harold A. and Robert D. Held, father-and-son partners in Held Properties, owner and developer of Westwood Place jointly with Westwood Place Partnership, attribute the 98% continuous leased occupancy rate in their properties to design innovation, strategic location, 24-hour maintenance availability, generous parking and integrated management.
“Westwood Place was created to meet those specifications, and there isn’t another building in Westwood that offers all the amenities of that project,” Bob Held said confidently, citing energy and cost factors such as dual insulation glass throughout, as well as efficiency of layout providing at least 13,000 square feet of column-free space for each floor.
On High Elevation
“We are a hands-on operation catering to upscale firms that would normally get lost in larger buildings, but which are looking for top quality office space,” he added. “Our designs are created from a building manager’s viewpoint and are based on more than 40 years’ experience as a major force in Los Angeles commercial real estate. We feel we have been able to develop a keen sense of what business tenants need and want.”
Situated on one of the highest elevations along the Westwood-Wilshire corridor, Westwood Place’s stepped-up design will offer 12 potential corner offices per floor with floor-to-ceiling bay windows.
Designed by Maxwell Starkman Associates, the building’s north and west elevations will be clad in polished Karelia red granite and dual-glazed, copper-coated glass windows. The project has 206,000 gross square feet and is being built by Jones Brothers Construction Corp., with occupancy scheduled for the early summer of 1987.
High-Speed Elevators
A 5,000-square-foot lobby, enhanced with imported green marble and floor-to-ceiling vision glass, will be the setting for contemporary art work as part of an ongoing art program. Stepped architectural elements in the 20-foot-high lobby ceiling will mimic the exterior design; flooring will be of granite with carpet inserts.
Floors two through 13 will offer 14,000 square feet, while the upper stepped floors, 14 and 15, will contain less space because of the cascading elevations. All floors will be served by five high-speed elevators.
Westwood Place will have a 24-hour security guard and state-of-the-art computerized card-based system that will allow tenants 24-hour access to the building, with individually controlled lighting and air-conditioning services during off hours. Cards will have a built-in computer-checked identification code to prevent mistaken identity and misuse.
Generous parking, more than three cars per 1,000 rentable square feet, will be available in an adjacent six-story structure; monthly executive parking will be provided for 100 cars in one subterranean parking level of the main building.
Other Westwood Place team members include Robert Herrick Carter & Associates, landscaping; Cohen & Kanwar, electrical engineer; Erkel/Greenfield & Associates, structural engineer; Meckler Engineering Group, mechanical engineer; ACCO, air conditioning; Brad R. Burton of Held Properties, leasing.
Construction financing is by Bank of America; permanent financing by the Boston Real Estate Council Inc., Teachers Retirement System of Texas and Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. with Koss Financial Corp. acting as the mortgage broker.
