Western Real Estate Business magazine covers the multifamily, retail, office, healthcare, industrial and hospitality sectors in the Western United States.
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62 • September 2015 • Western Real Estate Business www.REBusinessOnline.com dition to a combined 12,500 square feet of static signage that will face Flower Street and appear on the tower crowns. Circa is tentatively scheduled to debut in September 2017. It is owned by Hankey Investment Company, Jamison Services, Falcon California Investments and Highlands Capital. Circa is being built by LendLease, with Wilshire Construction serving as the construction management frm and Harley Ellis Devereaux acting as the project architect. WREB recently sat down with Scott Dobbins, president of Hankey In- vestment Company, to discuss what makes this project tick. Why is a project like Circa needed in Downtown LA? Downtown Los Angeles is fnally becoming a destination to live in… Circa will add to the transformation. Circa's 648 luxury apartments will have a front-row seat to Staples Cen- ter and LA Live. It will attract Mil- lennials who want to live and work Downtown, and it will bring inter- national residents seeking an urban lifestyle.It will even provide second homes for people who already live in Los Angeles but want the urban favor that Downtown LA is now serving. What kinds of retailers would you ideally like to see at Circa? Circa is directly across the street from Staples Center, which holds more than 200 events a year, so there's a lot of op- portunity there. The development will have 48,000 square feet of retail, with 26,000 square feet of it being restau- rant space. We are in talks with some high-end steak- houses and sushi restaurants, among interest from many others. Regarding retail — with Circa's prime location at the front row of Staples Center, which at- tracts thousands of visitors — we en- vision well-branded national sports apparel and electronic retailers for the Figueroa frontage. On the Flow- er Street frontage, we envision more community- and resident-serving re- tail and café options. There seems to be a lot of digital sig- nage attached to this project. What was the strategy behind this kind of branding? We are creating the "there" in Down- town LA with this project. Circa will have the largest LED screen in Los Angeles, facing Staples Center on Figueroa. This will activate the street and continue the Times Square feel that starts at LA Live and continues to our site, while giving us a huge op- portunity for advertising revenue. How was this particular site chosen for Circa? This site is part of the Sports and En- tertainment District's master plan that encompasses several sites, including LA Live and Staples Center, and ours is primarily a residential component of that. With all those attractions, as well as the Los Angeles Convention Center, the area is well served for easy access via two major freeways that are several blocks away and a light rail with a stop next to our project that can take you all the way to the beaches of Santa Monica. Are there certain elements of Circa that you believe are reminiscent of larger trends throughout the LA area? The evolution of Downtown Los Angeles from a place to "work and leave," to a place to "live and play" is well underway, and Circa is part of that. Within blocks of our location is now a Whole Foods market, with new and trendy restaurants coming on- line every month. Circa will have a two-acre, resort-like amenity deck on a 100-foot podium in the air that will serve as a backyard for our tenants. Circa's location on Figueroa, across from Staples Center and LA Live, will serve as the resident's front yard with the hopes of bringing other new buildings and developments to the neighborhood. n DOWNTOWN LA, CIRCA 2017 CIRCA from page 1 Scott Dobbins of Hankey Investment speaks at Circa rising event. Dobbins SENIORS HOUSING TE X AS INTERFACE November 19th, InterContinental Dallas PRODUCED & PLANNED BY M E D I A , I N C . TM FOR SPEAKING, SPONSORSHIP AND EXHIBIT INQUIRIES please contact FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER Te leading players in seniors housing across Texas, as well as national frms active in the state, will gather for a one-day information and networking conference focused on investment, development, fnancing and operations. Early Bird Rate of $315 Available Until September 25th Eric Goldberg - 404-832-8262 egoldberg@francemediainc.com Rich Kelley - 914-468-0818 rkelley@francemediainc.com www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/srt2015