It’s the end of an era in Century City.
Disney will officially vacate the historic Fox Studio Lot by the close of 2025, capping off a seven-year leaseback agreement that followed its 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. The move consolidates Disney’s Los Angeles-based production footprint in Burbank, where it’s forming a centralized creative hub on its original lot.
The decision marks a strategic shift, not just in terms of geography, but in how the Mouse House is streamlining production operations across its television and film divisions. For Disney Entertainment Television—home to powerhouse brands like ABC, Hulu, Freeform, and FX—bringing creatives under one roof is about proximity, synergy, and efficiency. The Burbank consolidation allows for tighter integration across teams that previously operated in silos across the city.
While Disney’s departure closes a chapter, the real estate left behind is anything but dormant.
Fox Corporation, which retained ownership of the 53-acre Pico Boulevard campus, is seizing the moment with a bold expansion blueprint that reflects the growing demand for top-tier production infrastructure in Los Angeles. Plans are underway to build nine new state-of-the-art soundstages, two sustainably built office towers, and a reimagined Fox Sports Studio A, all designed to keep the storied lot competitive with new facilities sprouting across the region and beyond.
The expansion—one of the largest soundstage development projects in L.A. in recent memory—will bring Fox’s total stage count to 24 and includes a 35-story office building on Avenue of the Stars and a 24-story tower on Olympic Boulevard. Both are designed with a heavy emphasis on sustainability, green building materials, and solar energy infrastructure.
With public access upgrades tied to the incoming Metro D-Line and a $20 million transportation mitigation plan, Fox is signaling that the future of production at this iconic location will be even more accessible—and modern.
This latest development reinforces a broader theme we’re tracking closely at StageRunner: Los Angeles is evolving, not retreating. As California continues to bolster its $750 million film and TV tax credit program, and with unions, vendors, and world-class crews rooted locally, the real value remains in proximity to talent and infrastructure.
Disney’s pivot to Burbank isn’t a step back from L.A.—it’s a recalibration. Likewise, Fox’s reinvestment in its lot is a signal that legacy studios are adapting for a new production era. While streamers, indies, and global players seek space across New Jersey, Georgia, and abroad, Century City is proving it still has plenty of runway.
From the birthplace of “The Sound of Music” to the home of what’s next, the Fox Studio Lot is preparing for its next act. And for the production world watching closely, the message is clear: Los Angeles isn’t losing ground—it’s laying new ones.
