Fox Interactive Signs $350M Lease for New LA-Area HQ

Fox Interactive Media has completed a lease agreement with Lincoln Property Co. and ASB Real Estate Investments to lease 421,000 square feet of office space at the Horizon at Playa Vista project near Los Angeles.The signed lease is for a period of 12 years and has been priced in the range of $350 million, according to sources with Lincoln Property. “Fox Interactive is not just another tenant,” said Playa Vista chairman Steve Soboroff. “They are an economic driver for the entire region. We might even have to change our name from Playa Vista to Silicon Valley South.” News Corporation’s interactive services company, which is responsible for online entities such as My Space, Fox Sports Interactive and Rotten Tomatoes, will be moving its headquarters from Beverly Hills about 12 miles south to Horizon at Playa Vista. As a result of this decision, more than 2,000 of the company’s employees will be relocated to the new headquarters by June 2009. “We have long ago outgrown our original Beverly Hills headquarters,” said a spokesperson for Fox Interactive Media. The three-year-old company is “thrilled to have found a state-of-the-art facility that is large enough for [its] LA-based team and that so well reflects [its] corporate identity and culture.” Lincoln Property and ASB are currently in the midst of developing the first phase of the Horizon project (pictured). The developers have indicated that Fox Interactive will occupy the bulk of the square footage in the initial phase of the new 15-acre, creative-style office campus. Ultimately, the campus is expected to include approximately 1 million square feet of office space. The initial phase of Horizon’s development consists of two, five-story buildings surrounded by pedestrian walkways and open courtyards. The development site is located in the campus section in the eastern sector of the mixed-use Playa Vista development at the intersection of Bluff Creek Drive and Campus Center Drive. “When there is a location with traffic improvements, parks, beaches and new property it becomes attractive to people and companies even in a down economy,” said Soboroff.Playa Vista has a long history of being a hotbed for technological innovation. In the twentieth century, Howard Hughes brought the aerospace industry to the area. Then, about two months into the new millennium, the community welcomed Electronic Arts and with it, the video gaming industry. And now with the signing of this lease, Fox Interactive Media is bringing the Web 2.0 industry to the area.To Blog and Comment Click Here