Moss' "Glass Tower" Revived by Expo Line

Eric Owen Moss' eccentric tower, which was previously stalled by financial constraints, has enjoyed renewed interest thanks to the Expo lightrail line that will connect Downtown with Culver City in 2010. The first rendition, which was approved in 1999, was composed of two towers and claimed to be the "only high-rise proposal in South Central...the location for two urban riots in the last 50 years." We won't tell them La Cienega at Jefferson isn't anywhere near South Central and is actually adjacent to affluent, suburban Culver City.

Program calls for about 210,000 sf of office space split across 16 floors of varying height, in addition to parking both above and below grade. The exterior ribbon structural system allows for an open, column-less interior. The project is being developed by Samitaur Construct, the company behind the office complex of the same name, another Moss design that was completed to thunderous acclaim in 1995.

The site is located on a large tract bordered by the lightrail line on the north and the Ballona Creek on the West. It is near the beginning of National Blvd, where Jefferson Blvd turns due south. The La Cienega lightrail station is located less than a block away, and is the second-to-last stop before the terminus at National and Washington near downtown Culver City. In the 1990s Moss made a name for himself in nearby Culver City with his designs for the massive redevelopment of Hayden Tract, a gaping expanse of industrial land that was repurposed for office and manufacturing space. The land, home to offices including Ogilvy & Mather, Kodak, and Smashbox Studios, has since quintupled in value. So maybe Moss does have the Midas touch for blighted real estate, but isn't this just another pricey vanity box, albeit in a not-so-desirable part of town?