Dole Food Gets OK to Build Headquarters

Winning praise from the often hard-to-please City Council for its design, Dole Food Co. was given permission to begin construction of a 502,500-square-foot headquarters complex on Lindero Canyon Road.

Dole received approval on a building plan in 1994, but returned to the council Wednesday night with a different, downsized plan. Arnold Savrann, the project’s architect, said it is more in keeping with the company’s roots in the Pacific.

“The style of the building is representative of our Hawaiian roots and our Far East operations,” he said.

The design incorporates a three-toned brick facade on two of the three stories of the U-shaped building, with green-tinted glass making up much of the third story. The gray roof extends beyond the sides of the structure, “giving an impression of the roof floating above the building,” Savrann said. Construction of the $35-million project is expected to begin early next year; the building is tentatively scheduled to be completed in mid-spring 1998.

The first phase of the project consists of a 182,755-square-foot corporate office building and subterranean parking area, along with a landscaping treatment in front to ensure the building is visible from the Ventura Freeway. The second phase will include office and restaurant space totaling 319,745 square feet.

Dole was given a variance to have about 400 parking spaces, rather than the 650 usually required for such a project, because Dole officials have said the company expects only 300 employees to occupy the building.