Silicon Beach Tech Surge
Silicon Beach has been on a tear in the last few months, scoring major leases with the likes of WeWork, Uber, Yahoo and the massive purchase by tech juggernaut Google. But the best may be yet to come, and that's why we're thrilled to present Bisnow's Silicon Beach: The Rise of the Tech Corridor, Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Water Garden in Santa Monica, starting at 8am. (Sign up here.)
Our all-star panel will include Kilroy Realty SVP of asset management Jim Axtell, who tells us the company's in the process of repositioning a six-story, 73k SF office building at 501 Santa Monica Blvd to creative space. Additionally, Viacom, Kilroy's tenant at 1633 26th St, is relocating next year into 180k SF at another of the company's buildings: Columbia Square in Hollywood. Meanwhile, Riot Games, which leased space from Kilroy at 12312 W Olympic Blvd, has opened its League of Legends arena in the 76k SF building.
In addition, Kilroy's The Academy project in Hollywood (one of LA's 5 biggest office developments) has just about completed schematic design and is approaching the entitlement phase. Jim says the mixed-use project will boast offices, retail/restaurant space and multifamily, aimed at providing a creative indoor/outdoor environment. (Buzzfeed is leasing the property during the entitlement process.) Speaking of Columbia Square, as you know by now, the property's historic 93k SF office building has been fully leased to member-based private work collective Neuehouse.
Another panelist will be Verizon Digital Media Services CMO James Segil, who joined the company when it acquired EdgeCast Networks for $400M in December 2013. James' firm just signed a lease for 125k SF at The Reserve in Playa Vista; move-in's Monday (the property just traded to Invesco for $300M). James tells us the ability to attract talent was a huge factor for setting up in Playa. The new space will have room for up to 600 employees.
When James started EdgeCast, there wasn't the inventory of creative space in the LA market. Today, despite rising rents, the Silicon Beach movement with tech companies in proximity to each other is an appealing trend. Come hear James and our other panelists at Bisnow's Silicon Beach: The Rise of the Tech Corridor, Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Water Garden in Santa Monica, starting at 8am. (Sign up here.)
