Last we heard, the Pacific Design Center's 2013 Red Building was set to get a few tenants to occupy some of its 400,000 square feet of office space. Seems we were about two years too early, as the first four tenants (which will include clothier AllSaints and media company Whalerock Industries) have just been signed. Together, they'll occupy about 65,000 square feet; PDC owner Charles Cohen is in negotiations on another 90,000 square feet. (Yes, it would still be more than half empty.)
The Blue Whale, the complex's first building, opened in 1975; the Green Building followed 13 years later, in 1988. But it took another 25 years for the Red Building to arrive, and it's long had trouble getting rented out. Even before the building was complete in 2013, Cohen has been picky about tenants, looking to lease to companies in "creative fields" that would "fit into the spirit of the Pacific Design Center." He was also at one point asking above some of the highest rents on the market. These tactics effectively kept the place empty until now. The first round of move-ins will be complete by the end of this year.
Attention now turns to the adjacent Metro bus yard, where Cohen hopes to erect the Design Village, a massive mixed-use development, in cooperation with Metro. Their contract expires in April, and is now the site of yet another development battle; the West Hollywood City Council unanimously voted to ask Metro not to extend the contract after being frozen out of the design process. For his part, Cohen still seems upbeat about the project —the LA Times quotes him as saying he's "very interested in working with the county and the MTA to develop the site" —but WeHo's city council raised some very valid concerns about community input and transparency.—Ian Grant
· Red Building at Pacific Design Center getting tenants at last [LAT]
· WeHo Asks Metro to Call Off Pacific Design Center Megaproject [Curbed LA]
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