A developer is turning the former site of the Hughes Aircraft Company--adjacent to the huge new Playa Vista mixed-use development--into an office complex catering to the technology and creative industries.
The article features an interview with the developer, Wayne Ratkovich, and a speech given by the former president of Hughes Aircraft Company, Ken Richardson.
"We like looking for something that is not evident to others or something that is in a state of chaos that we can do something about. In this case, we had eleven buildings and 28 acres of land on the Westside of Los Angeles, with an opportunity to buy them at a very attractive price. We believe we can convert these buildings into the kind of facilities that are in demand today by the creative industries, using what is called creative space (for lack of a better term)."
"We are particularly fortunate that we are on the Westside of Los Angeles, a city in which a very strong part of the economy includes entertainment and entertainment-related industries. As best we can determine (and we put in a lot of effort toward this determination), creative office space, the kind of office space that is available to the industries we appeal to, is relatively modest. Modest, by today's standards, means a ten percent vacancy factor. There is not a surplus of space, and there is growth in the categories of media, entertainment, and technology. That is our target."
Thanks to James Brasuell
FULL STORY: Howard Hughes’ Hercules Campus Revitalized by Ratkovich

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

BLM To Rescind Public Lands Rule
The change will downgrade conservation, once again putting federal land at risk for mining and other extractive uses.

Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service