Development
DEALS of the YEAR
Construction Kicks Off
On Centerpiece of LA Live
The massive LA Live project at Los
Angeles’ Staples Center has gotten a lot of
attention over the past few years. Last
June, it made headlines again when
ground broke for the two-million-sf centerpiece of that development, the Hotel &
Residences at LA Live.
Being built at a cost of $965 million by a
JV of Anschutz Entertainment Group and
MacFarlane Partners, the 54-story tower
will house an 878-room JW Marriott
Hotel, 123-key Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 224-
unit Ritz Carlton Residences and a
215,000-sf conference center. Goodwin
Procter advised the developers in the project, which is expected to be completed in
early 2010. The developers obtained $650
million in construction financing in a syndication led by Credit Suisse.
The Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels
will operate under one management
agreement. The condos, half of which
have already been contracted, top the
Gensler-designed structure. The tower
also has two restaurants and bars, a nightclub, an 8,000-sf Ritz-Carlton Spa, two
pools, fitness facilities, 15,000 sf of meeting rooms, 65,000 sf of ballroom and
exhibition space and a residential sky
lobby and lounge.
This project is the core of LA Live, an
Anschutz development that will ultimately feature 27 acres of sports, enter-
The
DEALMAKERS
Owner: Anschutz Entertainment Group
(Timothy J. Leiweke, president and CEO)
and MacFarlane Partners (Victor B.
MacFarlane, managing principal and CEO)
Owner’s Representative: Goodwin Procter
Architect: Gensler
Engineer: Nabih Youssef Associates
Contractors: Webcor Builders and PCL
Constructors Inc.
“This central component of LA Live has
not only been responsible for billions of
dollars of new investment to the region,
tainment, hotel, residential and commercial components worth some $2.5 billion,
next to Staples Center. It is expected that
LA Live will host more than 700 events
annually and attract in excess of 12 million guests each year, with the hotel component servicing those visitors.
Marriott Hotel and Ritz-Carlton Condos at LA Live
but its legacy will ultimately be the now-realized opportunity for the Los Angeles
Convention Center to operate at a viable
and profitable economic level.”
TIMOTHY J. LEIWEKE
“Downtown Los Angeles is in the midst of a
dramatic residential transformation, as peo-
ple flock to the cultural and entertainment
scene that is growing and thriving there. LA
Live will further that transformation, as it
plays a big role in making Downtown, for the
first time in decades, a place for people to
live, work and play.”
VICTOR B. MACFARLANE
and Partners was the architect and engineer
and VCC was the general contractor.
Work began last October on the JW Marriott
San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa in San
Antonio. Marriott International Inc. and Miller
Global Properties Inc. bought 840 acres of
land from Forestar Real Estate Group to
develop the $470-million, 1,000-key resort and
spa, as well as 138,000 sf of meeting space,
two golf courses and condominium and timeshare components. The firms were joined in the
deal by Principal Real Estate Investors LLC.
Due for completion in March 2010, the project
is part of the larger PGA Village, a mixed-use
complex. Arent Fox LLP advised Marriott.
After 20 years of planning and a three-year
approval process, the Walters Group broke
ground last May on Stafford Park, a 370-acre
mixed-use project rising on the site of a former
landfill in Stafford Township, NJ. When completed next year, the $400-million redevelopment will have 650,000 sf of upscale retail
space, 677 age-restricted and affordable
housing units and 100,000 sf of office space,
as well as recreation facilities. Every structure at
the complex will be built to LEED standards.
Construction financing came from First Trust
Bank and Wilmington Trust.
This June, AMB Property Corp. will unveil a
million-sf speculative industrial park in Minooka,
IL. The 68-acre Minooka Distribution Center
features 32-foot ceiling heights, 148 docks,
four drive-up doors, parking for 273 trailers and
313 cars. The design team for the $35-million
project includes Kwasek Architects Inc. and
Jacob and Hefner Associates PC, while Lee &
Associates is the exclusive leasing agent.
MGHerring Group’s 400-acre mixed-use
development, the Village, is said to be the
largest of its kind in the Dallas/Ft. Worth
Metroplex. Comprised of the Village at Fairview
in Fairview, TX and the Village at Allen in Allen,
TX, work started last March and Phase I of the
three-million-sf project will open in October.
The Village at Fairview will have 1. 5 million sf of
retail, 400,000 sf of class A offices, 675 multi-family units and the Embassy Suites Hotel
Fairview with an 80,000-sf convention center.
The Village at Allen will feature one million sf of
retail, a Courtyard by Marriott Hotel and
650,000 sf of offices. It will be anchored by the
$50-million, 7,500-seat Allen Event Center.
