The Los Angeles Times is expansion mode. At least when it comes to its real estate.
The paper, whose new owner is billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, is building a 100,000-square-foot multimedia and event space next to its new El Segundo headquarters.
The L.A. Times Center will also house the paper’s production studio and e-sports video game arenas, according to a press release from Culver City-based Nantworks, another company Soon-Shiong owns. Large e-sports events require high-tech infrastructure and internet equipment, according to the release. The Times first reported on the building plans, which accompanied a story about Shoon-Shiong’s purchase of a minority stake video game developer.
The L.A. Times Center will host some e-sports video gaming competitions that Nantworks runs.
It was not clear where the new multimedia center would rise, Nantworks did purchase an 83,000-square-foot warehouse next to the Times’ new office in July for $50 million.
Soon-Shiong purchased the Times earlier this year and in April announced he would move the operation from its historic Art Deco office in Downtown L.A. to a 145,000-square-foot building at 2300 Imperial Highway in El Segundo. Soon-Shiong spoke of building a campus “that is there for the next 100 years.”
The Times left its long-time DTLA headquarters when its lease ran up in May. The building’s owner, Onni Group, wants to redevelop part of the complex with apartment towers. A landmarking effort could thwart that.