Apple will break ground on a new office this year on the Culver City-Los Angeles border that will house up to 2,400 employees, raising concern among some residents that it will increase their rent, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The tech giant is poised to break ground later this year on the headquarters for its Los Angeles operations, on a former lot that once housed furniture and clothing businesses. The new hub could exceed half a million square feet and would complement Apple’s current arrangement, where the company leases sound stages to film in the Los Angeles area and other parts of the world. The goal is to produce more content for the Apple TV+ streaming service.

The space, which straddles L.A. and Culver City and features a 7,120-square-foot parklet, is expected to house up to 2,400 employees. It’s a controversial project.

The rapid growth has some locals worried that the swarm of tech employees will push up rents and exacerbate the area’s housing shortage and traffic problems. 

“It’s going to be another headache,” Gaylene Tomlinson, 65, who has lived in Culver City for more than a decade, told the LA. Times

The article adds that members of the Unite Here Local 11 union, which represents workers such as Tomlinson at airports, hotels and other venues, aired their concerns at a December Culver City Council meeting. 

On the flip side, city leaders including Alex Fisch, a former city councilman and mayor in Culver City, believe the Apple campus is a plus. jobs. 

“This is a wonderful thing — having this many creative, smart, skilled people in one place and for a company like Apple to come and provide the jobs they are going to provide is a great benefit,” Fisch said at the same city council meeting in December, just before his term on the council ended following an unsuccessful reelection campaign. “It’s really admirable.”




Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today