Century Towers

About the Building

About Century Towers

Century Towers, at 2220 and 2222 Avenue of the Stars, was among the first residential buildings in Century City, completed in 1964 to a design by I. M. Pei for Alcoa Properties, part of the aluminium company's post-war real estate ventures on the former 20th Century Fox backlot. Construction began in April 1963, and the twin 28-storey towers opened as apartments before S. Jon Kreedman & Company converted them to condominiums in 1973. Pei's involvement gives the property a pedigree few Los Angeles residential buildings can claim, expressed in the towers' disciplined modernist grids and symmetrical siting.

The two towers stand on roughly six acres of owned grounds at the southern edge of Century City, directly across from the fairways of Hillcrest Country Club, which functions as a protected green outlook that cannot be built out. Listing sources describe ownership as standard fee-simple condominium title with no ground lease, but because several properties of Century City's era sit on leased land, buyers should confirm tenure through the preliminary title report. The 1973 conversion means governing documents are older than most; review the CC&Rs and any amendments carefully.

Listing sources put the count at around 331 residences across the two towers, a figure worth confirming with the association since published counts vary. Plans range from one-bedrooms of roughly 820 square feet through two- and three-bedroom layouts to combined units approaching 4,000 square feet, per listing records. Because the towers predate the glass-curtain-wall era, units have defined rooms, generous balconies on many stacks and horizontal window bands; numerous owners have combined adjacent units over the decades. Views run from the Hollywood Sign and downtown to the ocean, depending on stack and floor.

The service model is full-staff: a 24-hour guarded gate controls the single vehicle entrance, with valet parking, doormen and concierge coverage inside. The amenity grounds are the property's signature: a swimming pool, tennis courts, a putting green, a fitness centre and sauna set within landscaped acreage that most tower properties in the city simply do not have. Lobbies and common areas have been updated over the years, and the association maintains on-site management. For buyers comparing Century City towers, Century Towers trades newer construction for grounds, Pei provenance and established staff.

Value at Century Towers rests on scarcity of type: mid-century tower living with real acreage, a named modernist architect and a country-club outlook, one block from the Westfield Century City mall and the district's office core. Supply is fixed, and turnover skews toward long-held units, so renovated stock commands clear premiums over original-condition units, of which many remain. The due-diligence counterweights are age-related: a 1964 concrete structure whose seismic history is not publicly documented, older building systems, and the capital-planning discipline of the association, all of which the reserve study will illuminate.