Renovation Starts in Century City

New owner DivcoWest Group has started a $20-million renovation of two office buildings at 1900 and 1901 Avenue of the Stars in Century City that it acquired earlier this year from the U.S. affiliate of Japan’s Shuwa Corp. for about $200 million.

San Jose-based DivcoWest said the renovation will provide a more contemporary look to the “darker finishes, lack of natural lighting and once-popular hard urban exterior surfaces” of the two buildings. The buildings together total 1.1 million square feet. They were built in the late 1960s.

The renovation will modernize the finishes, lighting scheme and other facets of the buildings, including their landscaping.

The renovation project is scheduled to be finished by April. It will include a redesigned lobby at 1900 Avenue of the Stars and a new lobby at 1901 Avenue of the Stars. In addition to new landscaping and lighting, new signs will be installed throughout and offices and restrooms will be updated.

The architect for the project is Gensler of Santa Monica, with Swinerton & Walberg Co. of San Francisco as general contractor. The landscape architect is Melendrez Babalas Associates of Los Angeles.

The buildings are about 25% vacant, but the company noted that Century City is one of the strongest markets in Los Angeles, with a vacancy rate of about 7%.