Glendale Office Complex Is On Again
Howard-Platz Group of Glendale has revived its long-dormant plans to build a nine-story office building and a 362-car garage on North Brand Boulevard in Glendale.
The developer has already begun demolishing several small buildings on the site to make way for the 170,000-square-foot office building. Construction could begin in the next month or two, said Derrill Quaschnick, assistant director of the Glendale Redevelopment Agency. The $16.3-million construction contract was recently awarded to St. Louis-based McCarthy, which has a regional office in Newport Beach.
Howard-Platz officials were not immediately available for comment, but industry sources say the company is in the final throes of negotiation with a health insurance company to lease a majority of the building.
A new financial partner has also been lined up to help finance the project, sources say. The building is planned as the first phase of an office complex that would include a 20-story building.
Howard-Platz Group was formed in the 1980s by Don Platz, Frank Howard, Mike Howard and Greg Galletly, a team that has developed some of the most prominent buildings in Glendale, including the adjacent 500 North Brand Blvd.
The group tried to build the 400 N. Brand project back in 1990, Quaschnick said, going as far as submitting plans to the city. But the real estate market soon crashed and the project was shelved.
Recently, Glendale has experienced a sharp rebound as entertainment firms spill over from nearby Burbank.
Glendale’s office vacancy rate had dropped to 11.3% at the end of the third quarter, according to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. That has pushed developers into action.
Glendale Plaza, a 24-story office building, is under construction on Central Avenue. Other projects still in the planning stages include additions to the Bank of America building on Brand Boulevard, by developer Robert Maguire, and additional buildings at Glendale City Center, to be developed by Westmark Realty Advisors.
The redevelopment agency is even getting into the game, auctioning off land on Burchett Street that has entitlements for a 300,000-square-foot building. The three finalists for the land include Opus Southwest Corp., PacTen Partners and Reliance Development Group.
