The owners of San Antonio Winery are planning to transform a surface parking lot in Los Angeles’ Chinatown into a new Class A creative office campus.
The Riboli family, creators of the popular Stella Rosa wine brand, filed plans with the city Friday to build a five-story, 232,800-square-foot office building with ground-floor restaurant and retail space at 130 West College Street. Property records show the family first acquired the site for $535,000 nearly a quarter-century ago.
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“As members of this community for more than a century, we see 130 College as an amazing opportunity to help breathe new life into the more industrial side of Chinatown with a beautiful design that puts environmental sustainability and employee wellness at the forefront,” Steve Riboli said in a statement. “We’ve been here a long time. This is our home. We are excited to write a new chapter for this property.”
The surface parking lot is currently used for bus parking adjacent to a Metro Gold Line Station across Alameda Street. Grimshaw Architects will design the all-electric office building with street-level outdoor areas, including the public plaza garden and a central courtyard located mid-block along Bruno Street.
“Today’s offices must be highly desirable spaces for workers who put a priority on wellness, the social dimension of the workplace, and the quality and range of amenities,” said Andrew Byrne, managing partner at Grimshaw.
The area surrounding 130 College was originally planned and zoned for industrial and railroad-related uses, but over the years it has evolved with new residential, commercial and mixed-use developments and converted industrial space. Most recently, the city approved the mixed-use College Station project, which sits immediately adjacent to 130 College and will include more than 700 apartments.
The 130 College project adds to other development projects in the area that involved Riboli, including the adaptive reuse and restoration of the eight-building Capitol Milling Company complex, a 19th century flour mill across the street, into offices and space for retail and restaurants. Riboli is also tied to another big mixed-use development set to rise next door.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
