Location: Los Angeles, California
Client: Lincoln Property Company, Phoenix Property Company, Paragon Commercial Group
Runway at Playa Vista is the new vertically mixed-use social and retail destination of Playa Vista. The project is a vibrant urban district for locals of Silicon Beach to shop, dine, entertain, live and work.
Centrally located and long awaited by existing residents of Playa Vista, the 10-acre project includes Runway, a lively “main street” with in-line shops, restaurants and a wide array of retail anchors including Whole Foods Market and Cinemark Theater which complete the 200,000 square foot retail program. A 100-foot tall kinetic art piece which provides a central frame for the escalator / stair / elevator system, also houses a ground floor lounge and serves as a gateway between the parking garage and the active streetscape. Collections of public landscaped plazas and outdoor lounges with fire pits and water features provide places for families, singles and seniors to socialize while expansive public artworks located throughout are key to the project’s authenticity. Situated above the ground level retail are three levels of creative office space totaling 33,000 square feet with large expanses of glass and planted terraces that look onto the active Runway.
Running north and south between Runway and Millennium Road is Town Center Drive, a street lined with restaurants and cafes with broad sidewalks for outdoor dining and canopies and trellises for shade and weather protection. Above the ground floor retail, 217 residential apartments animate the streets with large windows, balconies and articulated walls. Restaurants wrap the corners of Town Center Drive and Millennium Road and mix with ground floor, two-story townhouses. Private residential amenities include recreational courtyards, sundecks, outdoor dining areas, fitness centers and pools. Parking dedicated for residents is located directly below the residential portions of the project, allowing residents to bypass the public realm and enjoy a secure community above. A parking structure for commercial visitors, clad with a vividly colored mural facing Jefferson Boulevard, is accessed from Runway at the center of the project and accommodates both self-park and valet service for up to 1,335 cars.
Building materials include a wide range of familiar choices from many of Los Angeles’ well-known shopping streets: natural wood, plaster, panelized and corrugated metals, glass, tile, asphalt shingles, brick, composite-cement panels and natural concrete. Colors vary from neutral tones to bright accent colors. Glass is maximized to increase visibility and access to natural light.