With financing now in hand, Worthe Real Estate Group and Stockbridge have commenced work on a $500-million redevelopment of the Warner Bros. Ranch Lot in Burbank, which will add new offices and soundstages to the historic production facility.
Earlier this year, Worthe and Stockbridge scored a $480-million loan for the project, including $175 million to acquire the roughly 30-acre site at 3701 W. Oak Street. That money will go toward the construction of a 926,000-square-foot development which will include 16 soundstages, 320,000 square feet of offices, and associated parking. At the time it was announced, the project was billed as the largest studio complex in development in the United States.
At completion, the property is to be fully leased by Warner Bros., representing the second half of a $1-billion deal between the film studio, Worthe, and Stockbridge which brought a pair of Frank Gehry-designed office buildings to the Burbank Studios campus a short distance to the south.
Occupancy of the Ranch Lot will give Warner Bros. a total of 56 sound stages in the Los Angeles area. The developers previously announced that the project would be facilitated in part through a state infrastructure program which offers financial incentives for the construction of new sound stages.
Completion of the project is expected in 2025.
While the project may be the largest studio development in the works for Los Angeles County, it has a great deal of company. Similar makeovers are planned for the Television City complex, Sunset Gower Studios, and Radford Studio Center.
Besides its Warner Bros.-anchored projects, Worthe has reportedly partnered with Blackstone Group to develop a new 500,000-square-foot office building just east of the Burbank Studios lot. That project is slated to begin construction in 2022. Additionally, the project is once again working with Frank Gehry on a proposed hotel and residential complex on Ocean Avenue in Downtown Santa Monica.
Article originated in: Urbanize
