Playa Vista: Next Phase of Silicon Beach

Playa Vista is a planned community in Los Angeles County, California. This neighborhood consists of various tech companies along with residential, commercial, and retail spaces, such as Google, Facebook, Whole Foods Market, Cinemark Theatres, and etc.

Because tech companies - like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, IMAX, Vevo, Verizon, Electronic Arts, Sony - are located in the area, Playa Vista is dubbed as ‘Silicon Beach’. Silicon Beach is a term that represents a region where major tech companies are located in Los Angeles covering the areas from Playa Vista to Venice and to Santa Monica; similar to Silicon Valley in San Francisco Bay Area. Google doesn’t only have its office in Playa Vista at Spruce Goose Hangar, which was converted from a plane hangar into a modern office, but Google owns a large chunk of land in Playa Vista too.

Looker deeper into other tech-related industries, the gaming and e-sport companies like Electronic Arts, Sony Computer Entertainment / Playstation, and TSM (Team Solomid) - have the office in this area as well. Especially with TSM, this e-sports team builds its $50 million and 25,000 square feet e-sport facility, which is the most expensive gaming facility in the world and the largest e-sports center in North America, in Playa Vista. On the tech-related education and research side, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) opens its campus in Playa Vista to focus on tech and media education. University of Southern California (USC) has its Institute for Creative Technologies focusing on artificial intelligence and virtual reality in Playa Vista as well. Apart from profit companies, ICANN - the non-profit organization managing the Internet - is also located here in Playa Vista.

Let’s take a look at these tech offices in Playa Vista: