So this Pei Cobb tower was inspired by a 19th century Chicago building.
Design of downtown high-rise unveiled
By Mike Freeman
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 16, 2007
Architecture for the Irvine Co.'s 700 West Broadway was inspired by the Monadnock building in Chicago, built in 1893.
The Irvine Co. debuted what it calls a dignified rather than flashy design yesterday for its planned 34-story office tower in downtown San Diego, the latest proposed addition to the city's skyline.
The Orange County real estate giant, already the dominant landlord downtown, yesterday began showing off the proposed architecture for its 685,000-square-foot high-rise at Broadway and Pacific Highway.
The building, which Irvine is calling 700 West Broadway, would be the largest single office tower in the city's core on a square-footage basis. Construction is slated to begin as early as mid-2008 and take 2½ years to complete.
The initial plans were unveiled for a design committee of the Centre City Development Corp., the city's downtown redevelopment arm. The redevelopment agency must approve the design.
Henry N. Cobb, a co-founder of well-known New York architecture firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, has been hired as the lead designer on the building. Renowned architect I.M. Pei is also a founder of the firm.
Cobb, 81, has been the principal design partner on the John Hancock Tower in Boston, the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles and the World Trade Center and Grand Marina Hotel, both in Barcelona, Spain.
The architecture was inspired by the Monadnock building in Chicago, built in 1893, Cobb said in a statement.
“I believe that 700 West Broadway will be elegant, characterized by calm, timeless and classic architecture that will be fresh and functional in 100 years,” he said. “It will stand with quiet authority, and be a pause in the visual landscape, a cornerstone.”
Advertisement Designing towers that stand out in the San Diego core can be tricky. The Federal Aviation Administration sets height limits on buildings because of downtown's proximity to Lindbergh Field. Many towers are roughly the same height, giving the city's skyline less vertical contrast than those of some other cities.
In January, Irvine bought the roughly 1½-acre site at the northeast corner of Broadway and Pacific Highway from Canadian condominium developer Nat Bosa. The company paid $60 million for the land, according to county deed records.
While Irvine won't reveal the cost of the tower, it would likely surpass $300 million, based on comparisons with other recent projects.
Irvine went with travertine stone siding rather than steel or concrete. The building will be 50 percent glass and 50 percent stone.
Among its features are a flared crown on the 480-foot structure, which is about 20 feet shorter than the city's most distinctive tower, One America Plaza, about one block east.
It also includes architectural features on the ground level that seek to tie in with the Santa Fe Depot next door.
A restaurant and fountain are earmarked for the ground floor along Broadway, with the main lobby fronting Pacific Highway. The building will meet energy-efficiency standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Bradley Neil, Irvine's vice president of architecture for commercial property, said the classic design aims to make the tower “an anchor at this end of town.”
He said the skyline on downtown's west end is “fairly busy” with unusual rooflines at One America Plaza, Emerald Plaza and some proposed hotel projects on Lane Field, across Pacific Highway from Irvine's site.
Though most of its buildings are in Orange County, Irvine has made a major bet on San Diego commercial real estate in the past three years.
Best known as the developer of 93,000-acre Irvine Ranch, which today makes up a good portion of the city of Irvine, the company spent nearly $1 billion acquiring six of the roughly 12 top-quality office towers in downtown San Diego. Its holdings include One America Plaza, the Wells Fargo Building, Symphony Towers, the Koll Center and the NBC Building.
On top of its downtown deals, the company also spent an additional $1 billion this year to acquire the San Diego office portfolio of Equity Office Properties, which included several high-rises in University City. Irvine is now the top landlord in UTC as well as downtown.
The 700 West Broadway project would be Irvine's first development deal downtown – and it could put competitive pressure on Navy Broadway Complex developer Doug Manchester, who also plans offices in his project at the foot of Broadway and Harbor Drive.