Both--this article is pretty informative: http://la.curbed.com/2015/3/31/9975230/snapchat-venice-lease...

But even if a retail vacancy appears--it kinda diminishes the quality of a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood for a private corporate office rather than another retail storefront, bar or restaurant to take its place.

I'm a free marketer, blah blah blah, Snapchat is free to set up shop wherever they want within the bounds of the law. My point is to say what they are doing is lame, and they've made Venice lame. And it's uniquely lame compared to cases where tech giants set up shop in a single large commercial building that can accommodate all their employees within a locale.