The Century City area of Los Angeles is one of the most exclusive, powerful, exciting and expensive areas in all of Los Angeles. It’s home to studios, corporate plazas of both studios and other major businesses, high end shopping, and of course some celebrities. It’s small, but is a major player in how the overall city of Los Angeles is funded.
Century City’s history actually only goes back around 50 years or so. It sits in an area that used to be owned by 20th Century Fox Studios. After a series of movie flops, then needed money and sold 180 acres to a developer, who decided to build a “city within a city.” The first building in the area was the Century City Gateway West, followed soon by the famous Century Plaza Hotel. It grew from there into many large skyscrapers and residential housing, which includes many mega-mansions of the rich.
Century City is home to many major businesses, including Fox Plaza, which contains 20th Century Fox headquarters. It was renamed “Nakatomi Plaza” in the first Die Hard movie. There’s also Constellation Place, also known as the MGM Tower, which is the headquarters of the historic Hollywood studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Century Plaza Towers, SunAmerica Center, and the Century City News offices.
It’s also been in other movies besides Die Hard. Many areas were used in the film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. The Gateway West Building was in the movie What A Way To Go starring Shirley MacLaine. And Elvis Presley had Century City as a backdrop for his movie Live A Little, Love A Little.
One of the most popular attractions in Century City is the Century City Shopping Center. It’s an upscale shopping center that seems to draw celebrities. So many celebrities from film, music, and sports shop here that visitors will spend hours sitting around looking for celebrities than shopping. The shopping center is a mix of stores and restaurants, and though some of it is enclosed, many of the establishments are out in the open, with lots of walkways.
Century City only has around 5,500 residents, and since it’s not the largest area in the world, most of the housing is single family residences. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some celebrities living in the area, nor does it mean the housing is inexpensive. The most famous celebrity living in the area now is Carol Burnett, but Nicole Richie also lives in the area. Candy Spelling used to own two homes in the area, but has sold both of them. And actors from the past who lived in the area include Bill Bixby and George Raft. And though he didn’t live in Century City, President Ronald Reagan conducted most of his business in Century City, both before and after his presidency, and it’s one of the last places he was seen before leaving the public eye due to Alzheimer’s.
Housing in Century City depends on location. Some areas of this mini metropolis can be purchased for around $350,000 on the low end, whereas in other areas, homes will go into the high seven figures. Of the two homes Candy Spelling sold, one went for $7.8 million, the other for $4.7 million. In general, though, most homes, which are condominiums, will go for around $800,000 to $1.1 million.