Photo: Costar
There may be a brand new freshwater wave on the horizon for Los Angeles. A company owned by one of California’s wealthiest residents just bought a parcel of land in El Segundo that, according to real estate analytics company CoStar, is expected to be used to build a surfing wave pool.
The nine-acre plot of land was formerly a Raytheon Technologies Campus, and was purchased for $54 million by tech billionaire Vinny Smith’s Toba Capital. Smith was an investor who joined Quest Software in 1995 and eventually became CEO, then made $800 million in 2012 when the company was bought by Dell. He then founded Toba in 2013.
Smith is an avid surfer, and Toba was an investor in the Palm Springs Surf Club, fueling the speculation that the land is most likely slated to become a pool. However, there has been no official word yet on a timeline for the project – which will face a number of challenges, including development costs, community response, and government approvals.
