Playa Vista · Buying a Home
Buying a Home in Playa Vista
A guided process from the first conversation to keys in hand, with a concierge standard at every price point.
Photo: Jengod, CC BY-SA 4.0
Phase 1 or Phase 2, and why it changes your monthly payment
Buying a home in Playa Vista has one question in front of every other, and it isn't about the unit.
Phase 1, roughly 2003 to 2012, is the Concert Park, Crescent Park, and Runway core. Much of it carries a Mello-Roos special tax, an additional assessment on top of your regular property tax that funded the infrastructure.
Phase 2, the Village at Playa Vista, roughly 2014 to 2020, generally doesn't, because the developer paid that infrastructure cost up front instead.
Two comparable units, one in each phase, can carry meaningfully different monthly costs for reasons that have nothing to do with the home. That affects what you qualify for and what you actually pay every month. Jefferson Boulevard is the dividing line, between Lincoln and Centinela.
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What Playa Vista actually is
A 1,000-acre master-planned community built on the former Hughes Aircraft campus, and the only Westside neighborhood designed from a clean sheet in the last twenty-five years. That shows. It was built for walkability, with structured underground parking and a tight street grid rather than the retrofitted sprawl around it.
Housing is mostly condos and lofts from roughly 600 to 1,800 square feet, townhomes, and a small number of detached homes. Phase 2 skews larger and more modern.
It has its own ZIP, 90094, which people often assume settles school assignment. It doesn't. Confirm assignment by address rather than by ZIP.
What it's built for, honestly
It's built for walking to dinner, the gym, and the office, with amenities and a lock-and-leave lifestyle rather than a yard. Google occupies the former Spruce Goose hangar on the Hercules Campus nearby.
It suits you less if you want space, a garden, or an older home with character. That isn't a criticism of the neighborhood. It's the design brief. Buyers who want the walkable density love it. Buyers who thought they wanted it and actually wanted a house end up in Westchester or Mar Vista, and that's a good outcome as long as it happens before an offer.
General process on buying a home, and if you're arriving from out of state, start with relocation. Call 310.708.7717 or get in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's Mello-Roos and do I have to pay it in Playa Vista?
It's a special tax assessed on top of regular property tax to fund infrastructure. Much of Phase 1 carries it. Phase 2, the Village at Playa Vista, generally doesn't, because the developer paid those costs up front. Always confirm on the specific property, because it changes your monthly payment.
Where is the line between Phase 1 and Phase 2?
Jefferson Boulevard, between Lincoln and Centinela. Phase 1 is roughly 2003 to 2012 and includes the Concert Park, Crescent Park, and Runway core. Phase 2 is roughly 2014 to 2020 and is generally more modern and larger.
Does the 90094 ZIP code determine my school?
No. Playa Vista has its own ZIP, which leads people to assume it settles assignment, but LAUSD assignment follows the address. Confirm it for the specific property before you rely on it.
Playa Vista
What buying a home looks like in Playa Vista
A 1,000-acre master-planned community on the former Hughes Aircraft campus, and the only Westside neighborhood designed from a clean sheet in the last 25 years.
Playa Vista is walkable, dense, and amenity-loaded, with two transaction issues every buyer needs explained rather than discovered.
- The homes
- Phase 1 (roughly 2003 to 2012) is the Concert Park, Crescent Park, and Runway core. Mediterranean and California Craftsman condos and lofts from about 600 to 1,800 sq ft, townhomes, and a small number of detached homes. Phase 2, the Village at Playa Vista (roughly 2014 to 2020), is more modern, generally larger, and carries no Mello-Roos special tax because the developer paid infrastructure up front.
- Why people choose it
- Buyers who want walkable, lock-and-leave living close to the employers in and beside the neighborhood.
- Schools people ask about
- The neighborhood has its own ZIP, 90094. Confirm LAUSD assignment by address rather than assuming it follows the ZIP.
- Getting around
- Jefferson Boulevard divides Phase 1 from Phase 2, between Lincoln and Centinela. Built for walkability with structured underground parking and tight street grids.
- Nearby
- Google's office in the 319,000-square-foot former Spruce Goose hangar on the Hercules Campus, the Runway retail district, and Concert Park. Playa del Rey and the beach sit to the south and west.
- The trade-off
- Two things every Playa Vista transaction must address: methane mitigation systems (the land is former oil field and wetland) and Mello-Roos special taxes in much of Phase 1. Neither kills a deal. Both confuse buyers when nobody explains them.
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