Yahoo Fleeing SaMo, Following Google to Playa
And the deal we've been waiting for is finally done: Yahoo has signed a lease for about 130k SF at one of the sexiest buildings in Playa Vista.
Avison Young principal Randy Starr, who was not involved in the deal, calls the Collective at Playa Vista a "special building," and said the deal likely got done between $3.35/SF and $3.50/SF on a triple-net basis. If you account for the triple-net, the deal isn't really any cheaper than Santa Monica, further proving Playa's role as legitimate competition to SaMo. With Yahoo, Sony, Microsoft and Google investing in Playa Vista, the tide has clearly turned. Bisnow has seen the shift coming. A Yahoo spokesperson tells Bisnow the company has been "working to identify the right office situation" for the firm. The spokesperson says in the fall, teams currently based out of the company's Santa Monica office will transition to the space, and that the company will maintain its presence and space in Burbank.
The Collective from Tishman Speyer is a five-building campus that measures about 205k SF and features top-notch amenities, including high ceilings, private gardens and sexy landscaping. One more thing: the building is about a mile from the ocean. Yahoo plans to move into the space, bringing some 400 employees along, in the fall. We called the Collective one of LA's top tech offices.
This comes not long after Google shook the Earth, announcing its plans to shell out $120M for land adjacent to the Hercules Campus off Jefferson, a 28-acre, 530k SF from Ratkovich Co. Randy says there is still room for more action in Playa, and that the deal is equal parts momentum for the community and Yahoo having access to a killer property.
Colliers EVP Nico Vilgiate (pictured at CU Boulder Homecoming with wife Ashley and 4-year-old daughter Mia) tells Bisnow Yahoo flirted with moving to downtown and some landlords seemed convinced they would consolidate operations in the 213. But he says the reality and transformation of Playa Vista is just too much for a company like Yahoo not to tap into. After the big Google deal, Nico thinks the move is a "follow the leader."
