Los Angeles

Howard Hughes complex gets a $50 million makeover

Claire Goldberg

The Playa Vista complex where aviator Howard Hughes once housed his headquarters is about to get a $50 million makeover. Hughes’ former complex is in the process of being turned into an office campus for media, entertainment and technology businesses. The seven-story structure will eventually contain five sound stages that can be used simultaneously. The complex includes the hangar where Hughes built his infamous airplane. Around the time of World War II, Hughes built a plane out of birch with the hopes that it would be able to carry seven hundred fifty armed soldiers from Honolulu to Tokyo. The two hundred ton plane flew for one minute in 1947 and is known as Spruce Goose and Hercules. The area has been used as a sound stage for movie and television production; most of the 3D epic “Avatar” was shot there. The new development will be called ‘Hercules Campus’ in honor of the plane. The makeover will take about three years to complete and the buildings will be made energy efficient with fuel-cell and solar technology.

• Hangar: a large building with extensive floor area, typically for housing aircraft.

Additional Readings:

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-playa-vista-20101015,0,5702847.story

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hughes-history-20101015,0,6889354.story

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-hughes-history-pictures,0,5051456.photogallery

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-playa-vista.eps-20101015,0,1476371.graphic