Playa Vista goes commercial

It once housed the offices for Howard Hughes' aviation empire and then it was planned to be the headquarters for DreamWorks (with city incentives totalling $70 million). Now, the LAT is reporting that two big real estate firms, Tishman Speyer and Walton Street Capital, are paying more than $200 million for land near the interchange of the San Diego and Marina freeways. The new plan is to build an office complex that will cater to technology and entertainment companies. Actually, an office component was part of the Playa Vista concept all along, but the DreamWorks deal collapsed after activists complained and the studio itself had trouble getting off the ground. So far, more than 2,500 condominiums, apartments and town homes have been built, with another 750 units under development. As you might expect, Playa Vista opponents are not pleased.