20th Century Starts Major Expansion at Warner Site

Executives from 20th Century Industries joined city leaders and developers Thursday in a groundbreaking ceremony for what is being described as the first new project in Warner Center and the biggest private office development in the city of Los Angeles in 10 years.

The 11-story building, to be developed by Tishman International, will expand the corporate headquarters of 20th Century, which already occupies 230,000 square feet of space in an adjacent office tower. The 20th Century Plaza, as the complex will be known, will allow the insurance company to consolidate five offices in Warner Center and retain 1,200 employees in the area.

In addition to symbolizing 20th Century’s rebound from the Northridge earthquake, the development is also an example that the San Fernando Valley’s office market is finally starting to pick up after languishing for years.

“We felt the timing was right,” Tishman Chairman Alan D. Levy said. “Coupled with the fact that 20th Century needed the extra space.”

Thursday’s ceremony was not only a result of a complex, decadelong process by Tishman to develop the location, but also an aggressive effort by city officials, including Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick, to keep 20th Century in Warner Center, where it has been based since 1980.

Company officials had said in February they might move due to a legal battle between the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District over the effect of new development on two nearby schools.

20th Century President William L. Mellick said his company had considered sites in nearby Calabasas, and in Thousand Oaks as well as several others outside of Los Angeles County, before announcing in April plans to stay in Warner Center. 20th Century, which insures about 1 million automobiles in California, is expected to expand into Washington, Oregon and Nevada by the end of the year.

The company dropped nearly all of its homeowners’ insurance business following the Northridge earthquake, after which it paid out $1 billion in claims.

“20th Century will remain in Warner Center well into the next century,” Mellick said. “Not only are we staying here, but we’re also growing.”

Added Brad M. Rosenheim, a consultant for the Warner Center Assn., “It’s a great symbol of what Warner Center is that a major company which had so many opportunities chose to stay here.”

In addition to the two office towers, the project will include a lushly landscaped plaza and a six-level parking garage. 20th Century will lease about 180,000 square feet in the new 273,000-square-foot building in the 6300 block of Owensmouth Avenue when it is completed in late 1999.

Tishman Chairman Levy said the remaining 100,000 square feet will perhaps be filled by tenants who have been forced out of Burbank and Glendale due to the entertainment industry demand for office space in those cities, which has in turn escalated rents.

“It would be great to get them back into the city of Los Angeles and out of Burbank and Glendale,” Levy said.

Indeed, City Councilwoman Chick said she believes the 20th Century Plaza will be a positive example of the city of Los Angeles’ new way of doing business. She noted that the project benefited from the city streamlining its permit process and from the attention it received from a case manager.

Chick also invited Mellick and Levy to issue a report card for the city once the project is completed.

“This is a showcase project for the city to show we really have changed the way we do things,” Chick said.