Retail Center for Phase II Moving Forward

The California Supreme Court recently declined to hear the legal challenge to the 111-acre Village at Playa Vista, paving the way for a central shopping area providing for wide ranging services such as grocery shopping, pharmacy, restaurants, and a movie theater that the area has lacked.  This commercial element had been in the works for years but plans were stalled after legal challenges halted the second phase of homes and commercial properties at Playa Vista from moving forward.

The first component of the Village to be constructed will be the mixed-use commercial and social center known as Runway at Playa Vista. The complex will feature a 200,000-square foot shopping center, 420 apartments and 25,000 square feet of office space.  Including the Runway project, the Village portion will consist of 2,600 residential units, including 200 units for senior/assisted living, 50,000 square feet of office space, 40,000 square feet of community-serving space, 11.5 acres of parks and another 12 acres of open space.  All of the retail amenities will be located at the Runway complex.   The original plan, which called for 6,100 condominiums, was scaled back and thus will preserve nearly 700 acres as wetlands, wildlife habitat and parks.

Playa Vista has become home to internet and entertainment companies, including Facebook, Electronic Arts, and YouTube and envision Runway becoming not only a gathering spot for Playa Vista residents and surrounding creative office employees, but a place where residents from nearby communities will seek the amenities.  Other plans for the Village include a supplemental community center with additional gym space and a pool, a sports park with additional play fields to complement the fields in Phase I, as well as a landscaped promenade to the new retail center.

Officials hope to begin construction on Runway in June, with completion estimated in 2014.