Commercial Scene : A Bit of France on Wilshire Blvd.

Construction has begun on a $50-million Beverly Hills office building that is touted as being the first structure along Wilshire Boulevard to have a classic French design.

The three-story, 85,000-square-foot structure at 9150 Wilshire Blvd. is expected to be finished in early 1990.

The exterior of the building will look as if it were made of weathered stone. A courtyard in the center of the horseshoe-shaped building will feature a large, hand-carved fountain and will be paved with limestone and terra cotta.

Four levels of subterranean parking will accommodate 326 cars. Fortune 500 companies, financial-services and entertainment firms have been targeted as potential tenants, according to the West Los Angeles office of Grubb & Ellis, the project’s exclusive leasing broker.

The project is being developed by Coastfed Properties/The Casden Co., which is headquartered on Wilshire just a block east of the new building. Ellerbe Becket Inc. is the architect.