Changes to California’s high-speed rail, mega houses, and more

Penske Media Corporation is moving to the other side of the 405.

The Los Angeles-based publisher announced this week that it is moving its headquarters from the freeway-adjacent office building on Santa Monica Boulevard to Lumen West Los Angeles, the recently renovated 1980s-era complex at 11355 W. Olympic Blvd. Penske will occupy 125,000 square feet across seven floors in Lumen’s East Tower, using space reserved for corporate offices Variety, Billboard, Golden Globes, The Hollywood Reporter, Luminate, Rolling Stone, Deadline, Dick Clark Productions, Robb Report, WWD, SHE Media, and other publications. The space will also include a screening room, production facilities, music studios, and podcast studios.

“We moved our Los Angeles headquarters to LUMEN after visiting every market-leading contemporary office building. There is simply no better build for our teams, our brands, and the future growth of our organization,” said Jay Penske, CEO of Penske Media, in a press release. “As our business has expanded over the past decade in California, it has left us with 4 different office towers, and fortunately, this transaction allows us to bring together nearly 30 operating companies under one roof at LUMEN.”

Television production company Fifth Season also leased 65,000 square feet of space at Lumen, which has been redeveloped by McCarthy Cook and Northwood Investors. Lumen is described as a 550,000-square-foot campus.

Not far down the road at 12121 W. Olympic Boulevard, Gelson’s opened its first West Los Angeles store on the ground floor of West Edge, the new mixed-use development north of Expo/Bundy Station. The 33,000-square-foot store, designed by Shock Kelly, anchors the retail component of the project that also includes more than 200,000 square feet of office space leased by Riot Games and 600 apartments.

Reimagining the “Gelson Experiment” for 28y A full-service store, Southern California’s leading grocery brand has officially launched its first location in West Los Angeles. Located at 12121 West Olympic Boulevard on the corner of Bundy Drive, it serves as the anchor for West Edge, a mixed-use residential/office/retail project currently under construction.

There are more Gilson’s locations on the way elsewhere in Los Angeles — including a small-format store on the ground floor of a new mixed-use development in Toluca Lake.

As the office market continues to struggle nationwide, the White House announced several policy changes that will unlock $45 billion in funding to convert vacant commercial space across the country into housing. The timing couldn’t be better for Los Angeles, which is counting on an upcoming citywide adaptive reuse law to meet the housing component’s goal of zoning at least 255,000 new homes.

On a sadder note…

Artem Tepler, founder of developer Schon Tepler, dies at 41. I first started exchanging emails with Artem in 2015, when he was excited to pitch a new project he was building on Culver Boulevard in Del Rey. In the years since, Schon Tepler has produced much of the work featured on Urbanize, and Artem has built up an impressive following on the platform I still refer to as Twitter. He was an open book whenever I reached out to him with questions, and it was always clear that he absolutely adored his daughter. Based on the outpouring of grief I’ve seen since the news broke Thursday, it seems others who knew him had exactly the same impression. rest in peace. (TRD)

Here’s what we’re reading this week:

Higuera Street Bridge is open! “Replacing the bridge included a number of improvements, such as an additional travel lane (there are now two in each direction), new bike lanes, a new entrance and bike ramp connection to the Ballona Creek Bike Path, wider sidewalks, traffic signal upgrades on Jefferson Boulevard, new sidewalks, and… , and retaining walls, in addition to landscaping and irrigation.(Culver City Crossroads)

Vision Zero And More LAist talks with new LADOT Director Laura Rubio-Cornejo (LAist)

L.A. has been taken over by giant box homes that favor size over style. “Modern homes don’t have the time or money for a tower, overhanging cornice or stained glass windows. Slanted roofs, skylights and other unnecessary touches take away from the bottom line – as much square footage as possible At the cheapest possible construction price.” (Los Angeles Times)

Eyes on the Street: Santa Monica Extension Michigan Greenway “Santa Monica’s 700-foot 20th Street bike/walk project is not long or expensive, but it is highly strategic. The facility is expected to open in early to mid-2024.” (Streetsblog Los Angeles)

California high-speed rail proposes amendment to section from Los Angeles to Anaheim…. And… House Republicans try to block funding for California high-speed rail (KTLA)

Los Angeles City Council members refuse to extend rent freeze, propose smaller increases “Instead, the council’s housing committee voted to advance a plan that would reduce the permitted rent increases scheduled for February 1 from 7% to 4%. The rule allowing an additional 2% for landlords covering gas and electricity costs will remain in place, making It makes the highest allowable increase up to 6% in some cases.” (List)

Where Los Angeles Quietly Removes Bike Lanes and Adds On-Street Parking “Six streets where LADOT has added parking at the expense of cyclist safety. The city wonders why traffic deaths continue to increase?” (Streetsblog Los Angeles)

Los Angeles City Council members refuse to extend rent freeze, propose smaller increases For landlords who cover gas and electricity costs, the highest allowable increase will remain at 6% in some cases. (List)

As robo-taxis land in Los Angeles, officials already see a problem “City officials believe robo-taxi companies will seek permits to do business in Los Angeles soon, and they are looking to the experience of San Francisco, where the vehicles stopped traffic and interfered with first responders. (Los Angeles Times)

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