Clarion Partners Unveils New Tech and Creative Space Office Concept at Playa Vista

i|o at Playa Vista Redesign of Class-A Complex Is a First in Los Angeles; Major Creative Lease Signed

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Dec 22, 2014, 10:00 ET

PLAYA VISTA, Calif., Dec. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarion Partners has unveiled the new name, concept and design details for the former Latitude 34 office complex in Playa Vista it recently purchased. Now named i|o at Playa Vista, the six-story, 301,642-square-foot complex is the first Class A development in Los Angeles to undergo a redevelopment on this scale: broken apart and reconfigured to satisfy creative-space demands. Although the complex has remained vacant since opening in 2011, Clarion's significant investment will reposition i|o as the "workspace of the future."

i|o at Playa Vista by Clarion Partners. Design by Gensler. Rendering by Kilograph

Since remaking itself as i|o at Playa Vista, the property has secured the first lease ever at the property. Group M (world's largest advertising media company) is taking 49,000 square feet and relocating from Santa Monica.

More information about i/o at Playa Vista is available at www.ioplayavista.com

The two-building complex is located at 12130 and 12180 Millennium Drive in Playa Vista, one of Southern California's most dynamic and quickly growing business communities. The redesign was led by Gensler and the new indoor-outdoor office experience is being coordinated with Valley Crest Landscape Companies. Retained as the leasing teams are Lincoln Property Company and L.A. Realty Partners. Lincoln Property Company will also continue to manage the project.

"The Class A office building of even just a few years ago – a large-scale, corporate environment – is not sufficiently attractive to today's creative office tenant," said Clarion Partners Vice President Khalid Rashid. "With this bold new concept, we recreated the user experience. The many innovations of i|o at Playa Vista include individual front entries for select spaces, and a seamless connection between interior space and hyper-functional, private exterior office space."

The redesign of the former Latitude 34 also includes:

Breaking down the size of the facade to bring it into scale of the neighboring projects under construction.
Puncturing the exterior to create individual front doors where the original design funneled tenants through a common lobby.
Creating floor-to-ceiling glass expanses and all-new balconies with sweeping views.
Breaking through the ground-floor walls with hanger doors that connect the office space to inviting courtyards with outdoor meeting rooms or "cabanas."
Breaking through the façade on upper levels to create pop-out balconies.
Attaching active, exterior stairs to augment the elevator as the primary circulation spine and provide additional access to the outside amenities.

The restructuring draws upon the site's abundant daylight and mild weather, and the new indoor/outdoor experience flows with the adjacent nine-acre Central Park as well as Playa Vista's extensive park network and miles of walking and jogging paths.

"ilo at Playa Vista is a one-of-a-kind workspace prototype that uses design to reimagine the typical office building for a creative workforce," said Gensler Design Director Olivier Sommerhalder. "This is a benchmark project for Los Angeles. It transforms a traditional building in a high-value area into an attractive, immersive environment."

The design concept of i|o at Playa Vista solves another problem facing commercial real estate: It is an alternative to the adaptive reuse of industrial space, valued so highly by creative tenants but which is often too scarce to find or too small for growing companies. At the same time, its setting – the Campus at Playa Vista – offers the convenience, parking and new infrastructure often missing from former industrial districts.

The name i|o derives from a core term in computing: an acronym for input-output. Clarion Partners is making a statement about the flow of activity from interior work spaces to outdoor rooms and beyond. Additional "i" and "o" words also express the redesign: innovation/opportunity, ideas/optimism and inspiration/options.

"The name i|o at Playa Vista projects the brand as intelligent, forward-thinking and exciting. It vividly represents the complex dialogue between business and of life," added Rick Schaupp, Director and Portfolio Manager at Clarion Partners. "Our intention is to build a creative workplace that supports a healthy, engaged and energized workforce; one that offers an authentic experience that enhances community."

About Clarion Partners LLC
Clarion Partners has been a leading U.S. real estate investment manager for 32 years. Headquartered in New York, the firm has offices in major markets throughout the U.S., in São Paulo, Brazil and London, England, as well as a presence in Mexico. With more than $32 billion in total assets under management, Clarion Partners offers a broad range of real estate strategies across the risk/return spectrum to its more than 200 domestic and international institutional investors.

More information is available at www.clarionpartners.com.

Disclaimer: Some information contained herein is derived from selected third party sources believed by Clarion Partners to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made regarding its accuracy or completeness. Opinions and forecasts expressed reflect the current judgment of Clarion Partners' Investment Research Group and may change without notice. Nothing herein constitutes an offer or solicitation of any product or service to any person or in any jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation is not authorized or is prohibited by law. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

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SOURCE Clarion Partners