The Flexner Report

The Clippers come to Playa Vista

• The world's leading video-game publisher, Electronic Arts, now houses more than 600 employees at its futuristic studio at Playa Vista's Water's Edge complex.
• On Concert Park in Playa Vista, a coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Bank of America, beauty supply store, and the restaurant/bar Piknik are now open.  More retail surrounding the park will open soon.
• A Sunrise Senior Living facility opened in 2006.
• Along with the six public parks that already exist, more new parks are opening.  The interactive design firm ESI, led by Edwin Schlossberg, is designing park programs and the community's signage.
• In the Campus area, the Los Angeles Clippers are building a new training facility for its players.  Several Clippers players live in or near Playa Vista.
• The residential portion of Playa Vista's first phase- which is nearly complete- is closest to Lincoln Blvd. and the Ballona Wetlands.  This section also includes Concert Park and the Shops at Concert Park, the Playa Vista Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, the Centerpoint Club (for residents of the development), and Los Angeles Fire Department station number 67.
• The commercial third of the development is closest to Sepulveda Blvd., the Marina Freeway and the 405 freeway, convenient for commuters.  Lincoln Properties is planning to build office building totaling more than 820,000 square feet in the eastern portion of Playa Vista community know as the "The Campus at Playa Vista."  The Clippers' training facility will also be located in the campus, as well as a basketball-themed public park.

Phase Two: The Village Town Center

The Village Town Center will connect the Phase One residential property with the Campus, and is expected to be mixed-used residential/commercial property.

The Village was approved in 2004 by the Los Angeles City Council.  Phase 2 is expected to draw more traffic to the area, since it will include offices and shops.  The village will bring 2,600 new homes and a neighborhood retail center that will offer restaurants, a grocery store, bank branch and other community-serving uses.  The Village will connect the homes now under construction on Playa Vista's west side with the Campus area on the eastern end of the property.  Rick Caruso Associates, which designed the Grove is currently in negotiations to design the Village.

Recent Developments

In 2001, former Los Angeles mayoral advisor and Parks Commissioner Steve Soboroff was hired as Playa Vista's president after finishing out of contention in that year's mayoral contest.  Soboroff, described by the Los Angeles Times as a "hard charging businessman," was a driving force behind the Staples Center arena and the Alameda Corridor below-grade rail line.  As a mayoral candidate, Soboroff proposed innovative solutions to Los Angeles' traffic problems including building light rail along major freeways.  He also proposed breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District and recruiting kids away from gangs using after-school programs.  In 2002, signaling a significant reduction in its ultimate size and scope, Soboroff unveiled new plans for the completion of development at Playa Vista.  It is estimated that the plan will result in less than half the number of residential units, a third less office space and nearly  70 percent less retail area compared to the original Playa Vista master plan.  Perhaps more significantly, over 70 percent of 1,087-acre Playa Vista will be dedicated to either active or passive open space.  This dramatic reduction in development was made possible by Playa Vista's agreement with the Trust for Public Land that allowed the State of California to purchase the land west of Lincoln Boulevard and north of Culver Boulevard in order to restore and preserve the Ballona Wetlands in perpetuity.