How did this all begin? What was “originally conceived as a giant park to provide recreation for the ten million citizens of Los Angeles County…”, has now become a living nightmare for many…
Howard Hughes and the History of the Marina City Club – Marina del Rey Condos
Marina City Club was a project financed by Howard Hughes who owned part of the land on which Marina del Rey was built.
Howard Hughes did not have a penny of his money invested in the Marina City Club. Neither did Hughes Tool Company. But the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the alleged charity created by Hughes “for the benefit of mankind,” was deeply involved. Its investment had been made through the Hughes Aircraft Company, all of whose stock was owned by the medical institute.
In the beginning, the aircraft company merely guaranteed millions of dollars in loans for the Marina City Club. It did so not for itself or the medical institute, but for the personal benefit of various Hughes executives.
The Marina City Club project was conceived as an investment and tax shelter for key people at the aircraft company. “In the late 1960’s, competitors were raiding Hughes Aircraft Company of its executive and technical talent by offering stock options,” explained a high-level company official. That’s why we were losing some very fine people. Pat Hyland (the general manager of the company) and another officer decided they had to do something. That is how the Marina City Club evolved.
https://www.mdrcondos.com/howard-hughes-and-the-history-of-the-marina-city-club-marina-del-rey-condos/Early History
Between 8-10 thousand years ago, Playa del Rey provided resources to the Gabielino-Tongva people who were original inhabitants of Ballona ( probably named by the Spanish-Mexican Settlers after seeing a whale ( Ballena ) in the area. The People of the village of Guashna, present-day Playa Vista, used the biodiversity to build a thriving communities.
Eventually the Spanish and Mexican named the areas Rancho Ballona.
