Steve Soboroff is stepping down from his role as chairman and chief executive of Playa Capital Co. LLC, the developer of the 1,000-acre Playa Vista community near Marina del Rey.
Soboroff, 62, is leaving the company at the end of April, though he will retain part ownership of the mixed-use development that includes more than 3,000 homes, office buildings and retail space.
The former mayoral candidate said he decided to hand over management responsibilities to Patti Sinclair and Randy Johnson, Playa Capital’s co-presidents, because he had met all of his public policy goals. His decision follows the Los Angeles City Council’s April 6 approval of the second and final phase of the development. A legal challenge from project opponents is expected.
“My goals when I started were to make traffic work, provide housing, create a great park system, respect the environment, help public education, and be a great neighbor. Those goals all have been accomplished,” said Soboroff.
Soboroff, a former parks commission president in Los Angeles, ran a real estate brokerage, Soboroff Partners, before taking the leadership role at Playa Vista. He started on the project in 2001 after an unsuccessful mayoral campaign. Soboroff said he doesn’t plan to run for public office again and instead will pursue a private sector job.
“I’ve found I can do better for Los Angeles from the private sector because I understand and respect how the public sector works,” said Soboroff, who noted that the size of his equity interest in Playa Vista makes him a “minority profit participant.”
Sinclair and Johnson, who will retail their co-president titles, both said their focus will be on selling the land for the final phase to developers. The 111-acre site is entitled for 2,800 homes, a shopping center and office buildings.
Playa Capital is in talks with potential developers of the property, including Rick Caruso, developer of the Grove and other Los Angeles-area retail centers. Caruso was slated to build a shopping center at the site before a delay in the entitlement process killed the deal.
