Pre-COVID19 pandemic, when the plans to develop and open part of the Westside Pavillion as a Google office was shared with employees, many of the engineers based out of the Los Angeles (Venice) office declared their preference to quit and find another job elsewhere. This was because Google was planning to close the crowded Venice Office (Binoculars Building) and reassign those employees to the new Westside Pavillion office.
Many Googlers live on the LA Westside (Santa Monica, Venice, West LA, Culver City, Playa Vista), often close enough to bike to work.
Or as the other poster said, the South Bay Beach Cities. However the beach cities are almost 1hr driving to/from the Venice Office. It's often more than 1hr to/from the beach cities to the Westside Pavillion.
The mall in my hometown isn't dead yet, but the flagship stores are all gone. Biggest things that have moved in are a Rural King and a Planet Fitness, and the former Macy's may turn into a casino depending on an ongoing court case over it. We'll likely see more of this type of project as mall businesses continue to dry up.
Austin Community College previously turned one into their Highland campus.
$700 million seems like a lot of money for this. Hopefully this will succeed. Zombie malls are such a plague in many municipalities. The local jurisdiction needs to start imposing vacancy taxes and deadlines to fill them. Beyond that, turn them over for affordable housing structures.
Many municipalities seem more than happy to change zoning for certain types of housing, and these malls are rarely that close to the enclaves of wealthy NIMBYs.
I'm not taking about zoning, though that's certainly an issue too. I'm talking about requirements for windows and egress and such for residences that make it difficult to convert large buildings constructed for other purposes into multi-tenant residential complexes.
A relative of mine has been providentially positioned to earn a king's ransom due to mall closings. He works with a demolition company, and I believe he used to do manual labor, but these days all he does is paperwork and "job walks" where he visits the site to measure and make estimates for the company's bids.
It's absolutely fantastic work where he's in the right business at the right time in this economy. The death knell of every mall means another paycheck for him, and steady business in that industry.
Plus he gets perks like cast-off furniture. My parents scored a whole inventory of LuluLemon's cabinets and shelves when they closed up shop.
19 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 53.3 ms ] threadAnd, if you are well to do google employee why live in a shack in Venice when you could have a large house in the Valley?
Or as the other poster said, the South Bay Beach Cities. However the beach cities are almost 1hr driving to/from the Venice Office. It's often more than 1hr to/from the beach cities to the Westside Pavillion.
I've worked with a fair number of people who walked in, thought it seemed familiar, and then realized they had gone there as kids.
Austin Community College previously turned one into their Highland campus.
https://www.austincc.edu/campuses/highland-campus
Also, hi Will! Glad to see other quizbowl people on here
RIP malls.
It's absolutely fantastic work where he's in the right business at the right time in this economy. The death knell of every mall means another paycheck for him, and steady business in that industry.
Plus he gets perks like cast-off furniture. My parents scored a whole inventory of LuluLemon's cabinets and shelves when they closed up shop.