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$60 Million Will Get You a Piece of Aviation & Movie History
A historic piece of property has just gone up for sale: The redwood hangar where eccentric millionaire and aviation icon Howard Hughes (pictured) built and housed the "Spruce Goose." The hangar was set up in the early 40s when Hughes was awarded a wartime government contract, and, according to the LA Times, "is now used mainly for movie and television shoots." It is located in what is now the Playa Vista Development. In 1998, when work began on the site for Playa Vista, plans were to incorporate the 11 Hughes buildings on the premises as part of "the Campus at Playa Vista, a new entertainment, media and technology complex."
Although it sees a lot of use for filming (pics like Titanic, World Trade Center, and Transformers to name a few), the new owner would have to do some work to upgrade the soundstage facilities. The owner is hoping that it will be purchased by "a studio operator who will enlarge its role in the entertainment industry." Here are some specs:
The hangar is longer than two football fields and at 281,000 square feet is one of the largest wooden structures in the world. It is all under one roof looming about seven stories up. It was divided in two the long way so that Hughes' teams could build the plane's fuselage in one half and the wings in the other.
New owners can't just tear the ol' thing down, either, since the building (sometimes referred to as the Cargo Building or Building 15) and the others remaining on the property "were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 [...] Therefore, any redevelopment of the site will have to take into account their historic preservation." But remember, you aren't getting a wood plane with only one flight under its belt in the deal; the historic The "Spruce Goose" (which is actually named the Hughes H-4 Hercules) now resides in McMinnville, Oregon, at the Evergreen Aviation Museum. It's been there since 1990, when Disney dumped the plane from its roster of holdings.Photo via Wikipedia/Library of Congress
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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