In the summer of 2013, Brookfield Office Properties acquired the two-tower, 2.5-million-sf Wells Fargo Center, in downtown Los Angeles, as part of a four-building portfolio deal with a $450 million price tag.
At the time, Wells Fargo Center was one of L.A.’s primo office addresses. But while its Bunker Hill neighborhood has emerged as a hub for creative business professionals, the two-tower complex has been showing its age of late, and has had a tougher time attracting new companies with younger tenants. “The environment was dated,” Bert Dezzutti, a Senior VP for Brookfield Office Properties, the building’s landlord, admitted to the Los Angeles Times.
To help change that perception, Brookfield last April kicked off a $60 million makeover of the Wells Fargo Center’s atrium, between the 54- and 45-story towers, to include full-service restaurants, plaza seating, fast/casual dining options, a rooftop deck, tenant lounge, concierge services, health and wellness amenities, and an indoor-outdoor bar. All of these features are being added to lure the 5,000 employees who work in that building and the 40,000 who work within Bunker Hill.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Wells Fargo Center’s original designer, designed the new atrium, dubbed “Halo,” which is scheduled to open next year.
To further accentuate the building’s hipper vibe, Brookfield on November 15 introduced Launchpad, a contest for innovative startups, whose winner will receive free office space within Wells Fargo Center for 24 months, a prize with an estimated maximum retail value of $360,000.
Companies have until December 31 to submit their entries online at http://Launchpad.BunkerHillDTLA.com. Entrants must be U.S.-based, and new businesses with no more than $5 million in annual revenue in either 2017 or 2018. An entrant must provide information about the company—including its address, history, principals, contact information, and at least one social media profile. It must also submit an essay of no more than 2,000 characters describing its background, purpose, and culture, and how it believes it would benefit the Bunker Hill community.
Entrants can supplement their essays by uploading a video of no longer than two minutes in length.
The refurbished atrium, dubbed Halo, will offer a welcoming street-level connection where previously there had been none. Image: Brookfield Office Properties.
A panel of judges, selected by Brookfield, will evaluate the contestants on the basis of the their respective business objectives and prospective benefits to the community, how the entrants complement the downtown L.A. and Bunker Hill culture, and the creativity and originality of their submissions.
The Grand Prize entitles the winner to a Convene WorkSuite Membership Agreement for a maximum of 24 consecutive months. (Convene manages communal work and meeting spaces for rent in Brookfield’s office buildings.) The agreement can commence as early as Feb. 1, 2019, and would include up to 22 WorkSuite memberships. (The office space would be located on the building’s 3rd and 4th floors.)
Occupants would be entitled to exclusive, badge-protected access to the WorkSuite, a fully-furnished office space, state of the art technology and high-speed WiFi, an open kitchen with a nourish café, a monthly community lunch prepared by the building’s onsite executive chef, facilities maintenance, and mail delivery.
To encourage entries, Brookfield has been offering brokers a $10,000 commission if one of their clients is selected for the Grand Prize.
Related Stories
Office Buildings | Mar 7, 2017
Large creative office projects generate staggering returns for property investors
A new Transwestern report examines the adaptive reuse trend across the U.S.
Office Buildings | Mar 2, 2017
White paper from Perkins Eastman and Three H examines how design can inform employee productivity and wellbeing
This paper is the first in a planned three-part series of studies on the evolution of diverse office environments and how the contemporary activity-based workplace (ABW) can be uniquely tailored to support a range of employee personalities, tasks and work modes.
Office Buildings | Mar 2, 2017
Office renovation and addition give new life to a section of Huntsville, Ala.
The newly opened Freedom Center, near Redstone Arsenal, includes a 10,000-sf conference center.
Office Buildings | Feb 24, 2017
The sun’s rays helped shape this Studio Gang-designed NYC tower
Solar Carve Tower advances Studio Gang’s ‘solar carving’ design strategy.
Office Buildings | Feb 16, 2017
Bjarke Ingels Group wins competition to design S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory
The factory will immerse employees and visitors in nature from all sides.
Industry Research | Feb 15, 2017
Putting workers first should be every employer’s priority
The latest Sodexo report on workplace trends explores 10 factors that are impacting the global work environment.
Office Buildings | Feb 8, 2017
London office building employs transitional forms to mediate between the varied heights of surrounding buildings
Friars Bridge Court will provide a transition between the unvarying height of the buildings to the south and the more varied heights of the northern buildings.
Office Buildings | Feb 7, 2017
SOM-designed HQ will provide new riverfront space for C.H. Robinson
Over 1,000 employees will work in the HQ building when completed.
Office Buildings | Feb 6, 2017
The see-through office: Why interior glass is all the rage in workplace design
The hottest material in workplace design—interior glass—opens offices to light and collaboration. But what about privacy and acoustics?
Office Buildings | Feb 3, 2017
Zurich defies center-core office archetype with stacked, cantilevered HQ
The top bar is 500 feet long, spans 180 feet between the bottom two bars, and cantilevers out 60 feet to the east.