Encino Executive Plaza May Be Last of Its Size : Six-Story Office Building Got Under Way Before Ventura Boulevard Moratorium Applied

Six-story Encino Executive Plaza, whose completion will be celebrated with an open house and reception Thursday, may have a distinction other than its prime location in Encino’s financial district:

It may be the last building of its height to be located on Ventura Boulevard because of a city moratorium that restricts structures to three stories and cuts the permitted floor space in half.

The moratorium, approved by the City Council last Nov. 9, is designed to give city planners time to prepare new development guidelines that would require builders on Ventura Boulevard to minimize traffic problems that have angered nearby residents.

Although the moratorium runs out this month, it is expected to be renewed for another year, according to an aide to Councilman Marvin Braude, co-sponsor of the measure with Councilman Joel Wachs.

Maximum Corner Offices

The $30-million, 176,000-square-foot Encino Executive Plaza, which was “grandfathered in” before the moratorium, is a development of Gross Enterprises and is located at the northwest corner of Ventura Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue.

The building was designed by the Beverly Hills architectural firm of Maxwell Starkman AIA & Associates. It is sheathed in alternating bands of polished Spanish pink granite and solar reflective blue glass.

The 10-sided building was designed to provide a maximum of corner offices overlooking a landscaped courtyard, which is the focal point of the main entry.

The main lobby, accented with stainless steel ceilings, will be equipped with four high-speed micro-computerized Otis elevators to serve the upper floors and the five-level subterranean garage, which has space for 585 vehicles. Valet service for visitors also will be provided.

Computerized Systems

Other office amenities include solid-core, oak-stained doors with polished chrome hardware, according to developer Barry Gross. He said that parabolic lighting, which creates more evenly disbursed ilumination, is employed throughout the building.

Computerized mechanical systems accessed by tenant’s individual cards offer air conditioning and heating at any hour seven days a week, he said.

Encino Executive Plaza’s location, near the Ventura (U.S. 101) and the San Diego (405) freeways, makes it readily accessible from the Westside, downtown Los Angeles, the north and west San 1181053550Clarita valleys, the developer stressed.

About one-third, 57,000 square feet, of the structure has been preleased, according to Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate’s San Fernando Valley office.

Initial occupants will include Yusim Stein & Hanger, a law firm relocating to 24,000 square feet from Beverly Hills; First Transtate Financial Group, which is relocating to 15,000 square feet; Western General (Insurance) Agency Inc., which is taking ll,000 square feet, and Gross Enterprises, 7,000 square feet.

Development team members include M. R. Fisher Inc. and H. N. Lewis Inc., engineering and building contractors, West Los Angeles; office layout and space planning by Rockefeller & Hricak of Marina del Rey, and POD, landscape architects of Santa Ana. Financing was provided by Wells Fargo Bank.