Snapchat Is Changing Venice From An Eclectic Community To A Corporate Campus
They run a huge corporate campus
544 van trips across Venice each day
Snap has 8 vans driving 17 hours a day! Vans arrive at stops approx every 15 minutes (we timed it at Brooks + Speedway). This is too much for our small town! Snap breaks Venice into 6 Zones with Zone 7 for parking in Marina Del Rey. This van schedule that was found laying around Venice.
They illegally reside in residences
They're illegally residing at 920 S Abbot Kinney. The building is zoned for residential use not commercial office use. In order to stay there the landlord is asking the Coastal Commission to change the use of the property from residential to commercial.
Speedway constantly congested with Snap's vehicles
Water and Costco deliveries along with passenger pick ups and drop offs (which occur about every 15 minutes @Speedway + Brooks) congest Speedway
Employees congest Speedway
One block from the ocean Speedway isn't speedy. Snap thinks they own the streets
Security guards create the feeling of a police state
They're in front of each location creating the feeling that the community is always being watched and policed.
Illegal use of apartments as offices
15 Brooks Zoned 100% Residential (Single-Family Residential or Mutli-Family Residential) but Snap uses it 100% as their corporate office. Click here for ZIMAS 11 Brooks are 1 bedroom apartments as shown at realtor.com
Illegally use live/work spaces as 100% corporate offices
Thornton Lofts are 100% corporate offices of Snap. They're zoned as Live/Work and according to City of LA Planning this is defined as "A residential occupancy of one or more rooms or floors used as a dwelling unit with adequate space reserved for, and regularly used by one or more persons residing there". As you can see from Snap's own video there's no residential living going on here.
Market Street is 100% Snap offices
It's a ghost town with opaque windows and security guards posted up + down the street that intimidate beach visitors from walking down.
Youth shelter, Teen Project, booted out
Teen Project works to provide housing for young homeless people. They were formerly located near Snapchat headquarters on Market before Snap expanded. Weird that Snap's primary target audience is teens and they kicked the ones in need out. Article here
Small mom and pop businesses being pushed out
Rents are being raised on them because Snap is hungry to rent everything and landlords are pushing out small business so they can get a piece of SnapChat's billions of dollars.
Landmarks not inviting for tourists
Snap has a private commissary at Gingerbread Court (Charlie Chaplin's old building) and their security guards have physically and verbally told visitors to keep away. They've created a confusing environment for tourists who want to tour the last remaining shop here.
They've taken down Beach Access signs
Snap doesn't want tourists walking through their private commissary/office area at the Gingerbread Court on the Venice Boardwalk. So, they've taken down the Beach Access sign that are required by the Coastal Commission to help tourists. They've blocked the access pathway with planters and at second access entrance blocked it with garbage can and cone.
Residential tenants have been pushed out
The owner of 29 Navy paid his tenants to get out by having the apartments remodeled. Snap now uses 100% of the building housing for their interns