Industry Dirt: Happy Holidays

Quick newsletter for you today with a couple of real estate deals worth mentioning and a few more highlights and notes.

Thank you for coming along with me on my newsletter journey this year. I look forward to continuing to keep you in the know of all things entertainment & real estate in 2025.

Happy holidays!

-Ted Simpson

CRE NEWS AROUND TOWN

LEASING ACTIVITY

Miramax just signed a new deal for 10,000 square feet at The Lot at Formosa.

TED’S TAKE

The Lot at Formosa, owned by local firm CIM (former Drexel trader, Richard Ressler, and Shaul Kuba),  is the 100-year-old studio formerly known as the Pickford-Fairbanks studio, now featuring several large sound stages and three modern office buildings. Like many Los Angeles landlords, The Lot at Formosa has big vacancy problems even with recent large leases signed by Hartbeat (Kevin Hart), HBO, and others. The vacancies were due to the departures of OWN, Ticketmaster (LiveNation), and Showtime. 

Despite these losses, demand for WeHo creative office space remains high, especially with the historic film studio setting like The Lot. For example, you enter through a manned security gate and drive to your parking garage passing by sound stages shooting some of today’s hottest shows—everyone loves the vibe. Of note is the fact that CIM tried to sell the buildings two years ago, but the market for anything office was just dead, so they pulled the deal.

101 Studios signed a 24,000-square-foot lease at the beginning of December at Radford Studios in Studio City. They were previously in Beverly Hills.

After years of under-investment, the landlord, Hackman Capital Partners, plans to modernize Radford Studios with a $1 billion investment. If you’re interested, check out what they have in store. (source: Me)

While many studio developers are lying low as the sting of last year’s twin entertainment strikes still lingers, and as doubts are raised regarding continued soundstage demand, East End Studios is staying busy. (Some photos of the Glendale studio are below.)

East End opened the doors to its first ever ground-up development studio project – a 97,000-square-foot studio campus – in Glendale in June after three years of work. Located on Glendale Avenue, less than two miles from The Americana at Brand, the campus features two soundstages, over 40,000 square feet of production and office support space, a rooftop terrace, and on-site parking.

The company is currently under construction on two new campuses – its 303,000-square-foot, five-stage and $230 million Mission campus in Boyle Heights and its 340,000-square-foot, four-stage Sunnyside campus in Queens, New York.

Griffith, which will begin construction next year, will become a 611,000-square-foot, 11-stage campus on the border of Burbank and Hollywood. And lastly, ADLA, which is almost fully entitled and set to cost $1 billion, will be the company’s biggest project yet featuring 16 stages and ancillary spaces spread over 1.28 million square feet in the Arts District. (source: San Fernando Valley Business Journal)

OFFICE TOUR

Originally featured on Variety, I thought you might enjoy some pictures of Sony Music Publishing’s state-of-the-art new office-studio compound in Hollywood.

The office, housed in a renovated century-old building, was designed and built in collaboration with studio architects WSDG and the design collective RIOS. This lease was signed in 2021, but the extreme nature of the build-out took over 3 years.

SAN DIEGO LOOKING TO CAPITALIZE ON THE PLANNED DOUBLING OF TAX INCENTIVES FOR FILM AND MOVIE PRODUCTIONS IN CALIFORNIA

Chula Vista Entertainment Complex will lease 75,000 square feet on the top floors of the 168,000-square-foot Chula Vista Millenia Library, an under-construction building at 1775 Millenia Ave, Chula Vista. The group plans on building out the space with recording and production facilities within the site that's slated to open next year.

The second phase will see Chula Vista Entertainment Complex build an 89,600-square-foot virtual production studio campus on a 5-acre lot across the street from the library within the next two years. After that, the group is planning additional production studios, entertainment-themed commercial spaces and a hotel on the same site within eight years.

The project aims to tap the San Diego creative community, many of whom had been driving into Los Angeles to work after the only local studio, Stu Segall Productions, stopped doing television work in the 2000s, Chula Vista Entertainment Complex founder and CEO Aaron David Roberts told the city council.

The Chula Vista Entertainment Complex is made up of Emmy-winning producers, directors, and content creators interested in establishing San Diego as a film and movie studio hub. It aims to bring "Hollywood-level innovation without the traffic or $23 smoothies” to the county that's located about 100 miles south of Los Angeles, said Bill Oakley, a group board member and a former showrunner of "The Simpsons," in a statement.

San Diego is among several regions looking to benefit from a planned doubling of tax incentives for film and movie productions in California. It's also one of many cities that want to attract spillover business from Hollywood after entertainment strikes and regulations hit the region hard in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. (source: Costar)

RUMBLINGS

Hallmark Channel is in the market for a decent plug of space

If you’re in the LA area, you’re probably glad to hear that the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena is getting an $80M renovation over the next few years aimed at modernizing the 102-year-old venue. 

Lastly, what would a December newsletter be without some predictions? I found this AlixPartners’ 2025 Media & Entertainment Predictions Report to be a solid 360 view of the whole landscape.

Looks like John Mayer and McG’s new property - the former Jim Henson Company Lot - is in talks to land its first big tenant since the new owners took over.

Thanks for reading. If you want me to look into something or have some ideas for the newsletter, let me know, and I’ll get right back to you.

Ted Simpson
Founder and CEO
Commercial Real Estate Advisors
(c) +1 310.384.6512 |(e) [email protected]
CA DRE License #0109718

P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you with your real estate.

1. A new home for your business. So, you want to move, but you don’t know the market. I can help.

2. Time to renew your lease? Don’t quite trust your landlord? Consider me your personal polygraph. BTW, I recommend starting the lease renewal process six months out at a minimum.

3. Sublease your space. You’ve outgrown your space and need to move but don’t want to pay two rents? I got you.