Los Angeles, Irvine in Running for Amazon's Second Headquarters
With news that Amazon will be looking for a second headquarters to match their Seattle spot, it’s no surprise that many cities in the United States want to get in on the action. That includes two in Southern California: Los Angeles and Irvine.
The Los Angeles Times has reported that both LA and Irvine are interested, though Irvine likely has more space available down in Orange County. Requirements for wherever Amazon’s second headquarters ends up would need to get close to Seattle’s eight million square feet of office space as well as accommodations for up to 50,000 employees.
The Times identifies Torrance, Culver City, and the Warner Center neighborhood of Woodland Hills as options. Amazon’s already renting a portion of Culver Studios. And in Torrance, Toyota’s selling its former headquarters as it consolidates in Texas.
Though Torrance has the ready-made campus, Culver City is closer to both Hollywood (for Amazon’s budding video business) and the Westside’s unfortunately nicknamed “Silicon Beach” hub of technology companies. Along with countless small startups in Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey, and Playa Vista, tech giants Microsoft, Snap Inc., Facebook, Google, and Yahoo all reside in the area as well.
Given that Amazon’s Whole Foods buy had LA in mind at least in part, that could give some hope that the company makes its way south. Of course, the impact Amazon will have on an already expensive housing market and traffic-congested city is also up for consideration.