Move over Hollywood, all of Los Angeles is a stage.
Atlas Capital Group is planning a $650 million soundstage complex in Downtown, on a sprawling property it bought in late 2019 that still houses the Los Angeles Times printing plant.
The firm is expected to file plans Wednesday for the $650 million development project, according to the Times. The two-phase project would have 17 soundstages on the property’s 26 acres. The project would include 300,000 square feet of production workspace, 212,000 square feet of office space and a nine-story parking garage.
Atlas paid $240 million for the site, which includes over 630,000 square feet of manufacturing and distribution space.
The property was built in 1988, and is on Olympic Boulevard along the Santa Monica Freeway. A group led by Harridge Development sold Atlas the property, just three years after purchasing it.
The project’s first phase would add six soundstages across five buildings on parking lots surrounding the former plant, allowing the Times to continue to use the printing facility. The paper left its longtime DTLA office headquarters for El Segundo in 2018, shortly after it was acquired by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
Atlas’ second phase would see the Times depart. The three-story printing plant would be converted into another 11 soundstages, along with offices and other space, according to the report. The newspaper’s lease expires at the end of 2023, but the Times has the option to extend for a decade.
The last few years have been a golden age for Hollywood production studios and soundstages. Developers have been scrambling to capitalize on the demand across L.A., from the likes of Netflix, Apple and Amazon.
Hackman Capital Group has built up a $4 billion portfolio of entertainment-related real estate over the last several years. It announced two new projects this year: an expansion of NBC Universal’s office campus and a $1.25 billion redevelopment of CBS Television City.
This month, Bardas Investment Group said it plans to build a $450 million production and office complex from a former Sears store in Hollywood.
[LAT] — Dennis Lynch