2121 Avenue of the Stars
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox building
2121 Avenue of the Stars, formerly known as Fox Plaza, is a 34-story, Template:Convert skyscraper in Century City, Los Angeles, California.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is owned by the Orange County–based Irvine Company.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
History
Fox Plaza was developed by billionaire Marvin Davis, on land he had retained after selling the adjacent 20th Century Fox Studio to Rupert Murdoch in 1985. The tower was completed in 1987.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its principal design architect was Scott Johnson, Founding Design Partner of Johnson Fain.
Former President Ronald Reagan had his offices on the 34th floor of the building for several years after leaving public office.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1988, Davis sold his 50% stake in Fox Plaza to 20th Century Fox, which was one of the building's primary occupants.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It resold it that same year to La Salle Partners for $320 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1997, Davis bought the building back from La Salle, for $253 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2000, Davis sold the building again, to billionaire Donald Bren's Irvine Company, for $350 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As of 2019, the 34th floor was occupied by 20th Century Studios.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2024, Chicago-based law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP moved into two floors on the property.
Design
The outer exterior of the building contains rust-red granite and glass panels.
Fox Plaza features a unique HVAC system where a large vertical air shaft is located in the core of the building. The air shaft begins below the building as an outdoor, cooler air intake pushing air to each floor's fan room, and on the roof is located an exhaust for stale air. Such system design utilizes stack effect.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Filming location
In a 2018 tour for Variety, the chief engineer of the building noted how the Fox Plaza has a large number of redundancies in its design, and he speculates that it's because it was intended to be used as a filming location.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>
The building has been featured in at least four major motion pictures released by Fox. Its most famous appearance was in the 1988 action film Die Hard, where, while still under construction, it portrayed the fictional Nakatomi Plaza (also known as Nakatomi Tower), a building owned by a fictional Japanese Keiretsu corporation.<ref name=":0" /> The damaged version of the tower was made via a scale model special effect. In 2018, to celebrate the film's 30th anniversary, a screening was held outside with the building in the background.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The plaza and a neighboring building are the main setting for the 1994 comedy Airheads where fictional radio station KPPX is located.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fox Plaza was also one of the buildings brought down at the end of Fight Club.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The building plays an important role in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode "99", in which detective Jake Peralta insists on visiting the building due to its role in Die Hard and causes his squad to miss their return flight to New York City.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The building can also be seen from the InterContinental hotel pool across the street in the "Sunblock 5000" TV ad in Robocop 2 (1990).
The building as the Nakatomi Plaza from Die Hard appears in the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine, where it was pruned and sent to the Void by the Time Variance Authority and can be seen during the battle between Deadpool and Wolverine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
Template:Century City, Los Angeles Template:Die Hard Template:Authority control