Feb 28 2014
Playa Vista’s burgeoning technology and entertainment district will soon welcome one of the industry’s biggest players. IMAX Corporation breaks ground today on a new West Coast facility, an approximately 66,000 square-foot state-of-the-art office building in the heart of Playa Vista’s commercial campus.
The modern, creative office space will promote team building and collaboration, enabling IMAX to grow its regional presence and enhance post-production opportunities for its clients.
Lincoln Property Company, which has constructed more than 800,000 square feet of office space at Playa Vista and is currently developing the $260 million Runway project in the heart of the community, will build the office space for IMAX over the next 12 months. During the first half of 2015, all 120 employees in IMAX’s current Santa Monica office are expected to transfer over to the new facility, which offers space for additional growth.
"This new office represents how far we’ve come as a valued partner to studios and filmmakers in Hollywood and around the world," said Richard L. Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. "Our growth is largely the result of our evolution from film to digital, which has enabled us to be in 57 countries, do roughly 35-40 movies a year, and have DMR facilities in both Toronto in LA. This has necessitated new and different requirements for our office space."
"I am proud to welcome IMAX Entertainment to the City of Los Angeles and thank them for bringing more than 100 new jobs to our city's economy," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "IMAX is known for big things - such as their big cameras and screens - and I wish them big success here in the entertainment and creative capital of the world."
Gensler, the leading global design firm, designed the new three-story building at the corner of Westlawn Avenue and Millennium Drive, adjacent to the Spruce Goose Hangar in the Campus at Playa Vista. The heart of the office building is an interior amphitheater with a large skylight above that will serve as the hub for collaboration, interfacing with clients and socializing.
The building also houses two large screening rooms with a formal prefunction area that serves as an event space for IMAX’s private production screenings. Both the production space and screening rooms will accommodate evolving technology in the film-making industry.
A grand lobby connects two workplace floors by an interior atrium with enclosed glass conference rooms cantilevering above, all looking out to the landscaped private courtyard. The elliptical courtyard will feature moveable seating to accomodate impromptu gatherings, activities and special events.
"For over 45 years, IMAX has continued to look for new ways to push the boundaries of technology and entertainment to create a more immersive experience for moviegoers and to help filmmakers bring their creative vision to life," said Greg Foster, Senior Executive Vice President of IMAX Corp and CEO of IMAX Entertainment. "Playa Vista is an area that shares our spirit of innovation. We are excited to be a part of this emerging high-tech hotspot and dynamic business community."
Playa Vista and nearby areas are home to growing technology, internet and entertainment companies, including Facebook, YouTube, Electronic Arts, Sony, Fox Sports and Belkin, as well as leading ad agencies Chiat/Day and Deutsch, socially conscious manufacturers like Tom’s Shoes, and the legendary Hercules Studio—the film stage for Avatar and Iron Man 3.
The new headquarters building will help anchor the next phase of development in the Playa Vista community, a process that is well underway. The next phase, which already has completed residential properties, will have 2,800 homes, new office space and Lincoln Property Company’s Runway project that is expected to open by the end of 2014.
“IMAX is one of the one of the most well-recognized entertainment and technology brands in the world, and the addition of their new West Coast facility is a significant boon for Playa Vista,” said David Binswanger, Executive Vice President of Lincoln Property Company. “We look forward to making their vision for a state-of-art office a reality over the next year, and positioning IMAX at the epicenter of the Silicon Beach movement, which appears to be gaining more momentum each day.”
IMAX was represented in the transaction by Cassidy Turley and Avison Young, and Lincoln represented themselves in the transaction.