Gehry Releases Designs for Sunset Strip Mixed Use

Canadian-born American architect Frank Gehry, based in Los Angeles, has revealed plans for a $300 million mixed use development intended to serve as the "gateway" to California's Sunset Strip. Gehry Partners, alongside Townscape Partners, released renderings and model photos of a cluster of five architecturally distinct buildings across 2.6 acres around a central plaza. Two of the commercial buildings, "made from glass with cross-laminated timber mullions," according the Architectural Record's Anna Fixsen, will be dedicated to retail: stores, cafés, and restaurants. Of three residential buildings, two will feature concrete frames, with the taller one capped by "a sculptural top of billowing glass." And the central residential structure will have "a white, tubular facade ... that is evocative of a sea anemone."

"We're hoping to create a sustainable, livable, walkable community," said developer Tyler Siegel, cofounder of Townscape Partners. Siegel and business partner John Irwin, along with investment advisor Angelo, Gordon & Co., acquired the property in 2012 after leaving the Related Companies to establish their own firm. They considered revamping the existing strip mall, but it became clear that they needed to build something unique—both programmatically and architecturally. "Not only does it form the border between Los Angeles proper and West Hollywood, but it forms the eastern gateway to the famous Sunset Strip," says Siegel. "It's also the first property you see when traveling from the valley of the Santa Monica Mountains to the L.A. basin."

Gehry reportedly said of the project at 8150 Sunset Boulevard, "[Residents and future visitors] should feel that they are part of L.A., a part of L.A. that has a culture that comes with it." Positioned at the so-called Gateway to the Sunset Strip at the curving intersection of Crescent Heights Boulevard, Havenhurst Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Gehry's mixed-use, three-story retail center and 11-story residential tower (which is expected to achieve LEED silver status) emphasizes pedestrian access and preserving Sunset's relatively low streetscape.

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Facebook Buys Prologis Industrial Park

Facebook has purchased the Menlo Science & Technology Park, a 56-acre industrial park directly south of its Menlo Park headquarters, from Prologis for an estimated $400 million. The 21-building campus gives Facebook plenty of elbow room even as it prepares to expand within weeks into a new Frank Gehry-designed building across the street from its existing offices, according to a Silicon Valley Business Journal article. Prologis Inc., which has owned and managed the property since 1998, said it would continue to manage the complex on Facebook's behalf. The park has numerous tenants, but perhaps its highest profile is Pacific Biosciences, which is at 1380 Willow Road.

"We feel you just can't build a corporate campus, it has to be integrated into the community," Facebook real estate chief John Tenanes said in an exclusive interview this week. "Facebook will continue to grow over time, and there's a limited supply of land... This is really looking at our future."

"Land constraints and increased urbanization pressures in markets such as Silicon Valley support the monetization of select in-fill assets," Michael Curless, chief investment officer at Prologis, said in the statement.

For Facebook, the purchase "is an investment in our future and the future of Menlo Park," Genevieve Grdina, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. "Being a good neighbor is extremely important to us, and we look forward to continuing our dialogue with city and community leaders on local priorities in the months and years to come."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Frank Gehry's New Facebook HQ Design

In a new Facebook post on Friday, Everett Katigbak, Facebook's Environmental Design Manager, revealed the plans for Facebook's new campus expansion, designed by the world-renowned architect, Frank Gehry. The Los Angeles Times reports that plans for the Silicon Valley site, which will be submitted Monday, will include a 420,000-square-foot, single-story warehouse topped with a garden that will span the entire roof. An excerpt from the post:

At every step of planning the new building, Frank has taken into account our engineering culture. It will be a large, one room building that somewhat resembles a warehouse. Just like we do now, everyone will sit out in the open with desks that can be quickly shuffled around as teams form and break apart around projects. There will be cafes and lots of micro-kitchens with snacks so that you never have to go hungry. And we'll fill the building with break-away spaces with couches and whiteboards to make getting away from your desk easy.

We've paid just as much attention to the outside as well. The exterior takes into account the local architecture so that it fits in well with its surroundings. We're planting a ton of trees on the grounds and more on the rooftop garden that spans the entire building. The raw, unfinished look of our buildings means we can construct them quickly and with a big emphasis on being eco-friendly. Of course, we'll maintain our current campus and use an underground tunnel to connect the two.

We plan to break ground on the new building in early 2013 and hope for a quick construction. When it's completed, we hope it will provide a paradise workspace for the 2,800 engineers who will one day fill it.

In May, Facebook was granted permission by city officials to hire up to 6,600 workers on the California campus according to PC Magazine. Facebook will pay the city of Menlo Park an average of $850,000 a year for 10 years, to cover the impact of additional workers on city infrastructure.

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.