Learn about the design and development of LA’s transformative projects.
Every episode of Building LA features a leading figure in the Los Angeles design, real estate and business sectors. We engage in discussion about the pivotal choices that propelled their professional journey, the driving forces that sustain their motivation, and the untold narratives underlying their most remarkable projects.
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EPISODES
Architect and urban planner Vishaan Chakrabarti draws on lessons from international cities and his time in Bloomberg's administration to explain how LA can rebuild after the fires with smart, gentle density.
Governor Newsom recently signed a significant rollback to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), creating a new statutory exemption for urban infill housing projects, effective immediately. Land use attorney Spencer Kallick breaks down what this actually means for CA developers.
What's holding LA back from reaching its potential? Jessica Lall, Managing Director of CBRE's DTLA office, and Carl Muhlstein, a veteran LA commercial real estate advisor, have a few ideas.
In the Building LA Season 1 finale, Michael White and Sarah Koos discuss Gensler’s post-COVID workplace strategy, highlighting their data-driven LA office redesign. They explore AI, sustainability, and urban transformation, emphasizing architecture’s role in shaping LA’s future amid upcoming global events.
Frances Anderton and David Kersh discuss their new initiative, Awesome and Affordable: Great Housing Now. This is a yearlong, new media project aimed at advancing understanding and appreciation for affordable housing: how it’s funded, produced and designed.
Robert Hale FAIA, Partner at RIOS, talks about two of his latest production studio projects - Echelon Studios and the Sony Scenic Arts Building. During our conversation, we discuss Robert's career before joining RIOS and his perspective on the future of production studio development.
Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich, the co-founders of Patterns, discuss their latest project – The Victory Wellness Center in North Hollywood. The project involves the conversion of a former supermarket building originally built in the 1940s, into a contemporary medical office building.
John K Chan, AIA, LEED AP is the Co-Founder and Design Director at Formation Association. We discuss how to create a great retail experience, as exemplified by his firm’s design of the Atwater Canyon retail complex. Atwater Canyon is an adaptive reuse project located in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Babak Ziai is the Founder and Managing Principal at BrandView, Inc. His commercial real estate investment management firm focuses on acquiring underutilized properties in exceptional locations and transforming them into high-performing mixed-use developments. We discuss his investment on Windward Avenue in Venice.
Oliver Evans is the CEO and co-founder of The Kinn – a membership club and workspace in LA that caters to socially conscious entrepreneurs.
In this episode we get out of town for the weekend and go to Mammoth to discuss the Limelight Hotel Mammoth with the Managing Director of WATG's LA office, Monica Cuervo.
Commune Capital, a private equity real estate investment firm which invests primarily in multifamily in California, including a co-living development in Mar Vista which is currently under construction.
The Healthy Haus is a case study for how to prioritize true sustainability in Southern California, rewilding the land, utilizing passive heating and cooling, specifying environmentally friendly construction materials, and promoting the well-being of not only the user, but also every construction worker.
We discuss the creation of Fatty Mart, a vibrant neighborhood deli/grocery in Mar Vista with David Kuo, Owner of Fatty Mart and his architect, Catherine Johnson, AIA, ACLA, Founding Partner at Design, Bitches.
A home for Nobel Prize winners and the center for research that is helping push humanity forward, the Chen Neuroscience building is an academic and research hub in Pasadena. Mark Zajdzinski describes how his team at SmithGroup designed and delivered this building for Caltech.
The once underutilized triangular site in Downtown Culver City was transformed into an open-air gathering place for the community, and is a commercial success for owners Hackman Capital. We dive into the design process, the future of Culver City, and Patricia's role as a founding co-chair of the AIA Los Angeles Women in Architecture Committee.
The Airport Metro Connector will link the forthcoming Automated People Mover at LAX to the LA Metro and associated bus terminals at Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street. The project will create a fully intermodal facility and a new point of arrival into Los Angeles.
Vallarta Supermarkets is a Los Angeles success story, owned by the same family since it was founded in 1985. In their new corporate office, Haley Nelson was tasked with telling the story of the company, and reflecting their values through the workplace design.
Kaleidoscope Mural situated on a power station a stones throw from the ocean, is the largest mural in California. We speak with Sean Madden, CEO of SPMD about how it was created. We also discuss in detail how he has grown his business, the joys and challenges of entrepreneurship, and what he means by being a servant leader.
The Press is a transformational 450,000 SF re-development of the old LA Times Printing Facility. In collaboration with the architects EYRC, BOLD brought this space back to life, celebrating its previous use.
Your Host, Sam Pepper
Sam Pepper is Vice President of Development at Lincoln Property Company, where oversees all phases of projects—entitlements, design, permitting, and construction—across mixed-use, residential, and commercial sectors. With over 14 years in commercial real estate, Sam brings deep expertise in development, design, and project management. Prior to Lincoln, he led large-scale urban infill projects at Alloy Development and SHoP Architects in New York. He holds degrees in Architecture from the University of Virginia and Real Estate Development from MIT, and has been a licensed architect in New York since 2018. As you will notice the moment you start listening, Sam is not a native Angeleno and was born and raised in London, England.
