LOS ANGELES, CA — Skanska, a global development and construction firm, announces the official launch of its commercial development division in Los Angeles, alongside its first acquisition in the market a fully-entitled commercial development site in Beverly Hills. Located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Almont Drive, 9000 Wilshire, once complete, will be a three-story, 40,000-square-foot office building.

“With demand for newly developed space in Beverly Hills far exceeding available space due to a limited supply of new buildings and a less than 10 percent vacancy rate, desire for newly constructed creative office space in the city is extremely high,” said Clare De Briere, Executive Vice President for Commercial Development in Los Angeles. “Our ability to self-finance our projects and leverage our world-class construction team provides us the ability to bring a modern new office building with special, unique tenant space to the heart of Beverly Hills. It will provide an opportunity for a new tenant to find its home among global leaders like Google, Morgan Stanley, Live Nation and MGM Studios.”

With indoor and outdoor spaces, an 11,000-square-foot rooftop deck and lounge, floor-to-ceiling glass windows wrapping the exterior and a second floor terrace with a green wall, Los Angeles-based architect Neil M. Denari in collaboration with HLW has created a design mixing utility, style and modernism for Skanska’s new Beverly Hills office building. 9000 Wilshire is also designed for LEED Gold Certification, with the goal to achieve LEED Platinum.

Beverly Hills will be served by the Metro’s extension of the subway system that will link Downtown LA to Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood and Brentwood, and the balance of the regional transit system. Two future Metro stations of the Purple Line Extension, which Skanska is also constructing, will be in walking distance to the site. In addition, 9000 Wilshire is situated near the “Golden Triangle” of Beverly Hills, a global fashion capital and home to retailers, restaurants, hotels and bars.

Along with the acquisition of 9000 Wilshire, Skanska is launching its first-ever commercial development practice in Los Angeles, which will be located at the U.S. Bank Tower, where Skanska now occupies over 13,000 square feet of office space. Not only does this new office hold 60 employees, but it also has a meeting space for 200 people, serving as a gathering space for the local community, as well as two large format original murals by local Los Angeles artist, WRDSMTH.

An industry veteran in Los Angeles, De Briere will lead Skanska’s new practice and the expansion of Skanska’s global real estate development business in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for land acquisition, the development and design of new projects, tenant leasing strategy and execution of future projects.

Prior to joining Skanska, De Briere was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer with The Ratkovich Company. In her more than 25 years with the company, she oversaw the acquisition, entitlement, planning, development and disposition of millions of square feet of developments, including the The Hercules Campus in Playa Vista and The Bloc in downtown Los Angeles.

“Skanska is a clear leader in commercial development across the globe and has demonstrated its success and expertise in delivering high-quality, sustainable and community-focused developments in local markets across the United States,” DeBriere said. “With successful civil and building practices already based in Los Angeles, I’m thrilled to lead the expansion of our commercial development practice in this important market.”

With 100 years of history in the Los Angeles region, Skanska’s portfolio includes large-scale infrastructure projects providing expanded transportation options across the region, such as the Metro Purple Line extension and the 6th Street viaduct. Nationally, Skanska invests in and develops customer-focused and sustainable office and multi-family properties in Boston, Houston, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Since 2009, Skanska has invested more than $2 billion in projects in gateway cities across the country. Skanska self-finances the majority of its projects and serves as the construction manager. The company has developed speculative offices for such clients as Dropbox, Qualtrics, Mullen Lowe, Bank of America, Brooks Sports, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Tommy Bahama. Each Skanska USA Commercial Development project aims to achieve a minimum LEED Gold certification.