A Lot of Power Radiates From Avenue of the Stars

For anyone looking to identify the seat of power in the city of Los Angeles, it’s far from City Hall, well removed from downtown’s skyscrapers, a few miles from the mayor’s Brentwood estate.

Los Angeles’ power hub is a brown-and-glass tower at a prime Century City intersection. It even has a memorable address: 1999 Avenue of the Stars.

There, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher keeps an office on the seventh floor. Twenty-three stories up is Jerrold Perenchio, whose Univision television network is watched by more Los Angeles residents than any other. And just down the hall from Perenchio is Henry Cisneros, former San Antonio mayor and U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development, now president of Univision and a growing presence in Los Angeles civic life.

Still other occupants include Leslie Gonda and Steven Ferencz Udvar-Hazy, two more of the city’s 15 or so billionaires.

Between them, that’s two former Cabinet members and three billionaires--all sharing one parking structure.

Its best offices, naturally, have the grandest views. Gonda and Ferencz Udvar-Hazy occupy the penthouse, and one floor beneath them is an especially tasteful spread. The furniture and paneling are blond wood, leather and chrome. Asian vases hold white orchids and tulips. Twentieth century art frames a view of the Hollywood Hills that sweeps across the Getty Center, over the Santa Monica skyline to the ocean. On a clear day, you can see Catalina.

In an office tower with unembarrassed riches, the owner of that office is the richest of all: Eli Broad.