East End Capital to convert cold storage into movie studio

A New York-based developer is trying its hand at a Los Angeles staple: building out a production studio.

East End Capital is proposing a conversion of a warehouse into a 237,000-square-foot production studio at 2233 Jesse Street, near the Arts District, according to plans filed with the city. The developer, which is in escrow to buy the property, will add 90,000 square feet to build out four soundstages, offices and storage.

Pacific Industrial Partners bought the warehouse — currently leased to Glacier Cold Storage — for $5.3 million in 2002 from Atlanta-based Americold Realty Trust, records show. Both East End and Pacific Industrial Partners did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Though investors have poured money into cold storage during the pandemic, the demand for studio space boomed as streaming providers raced to churn out content for people cooped up at home. And real estate players are taking advantage.

Private equity giant Blackstone acquired a 49 percent stake in Hudson Pacific Properties’ portfolio of production spaces across L.A. County last year. Last month, Atlas Capital filed plans to redevelop a former Los Angeles Times plant into a $650 million soundstage complex in Downtown L.A.

The warehouse redevelopment marks East End’s entry into both the studio space and the L.A. markets. The firm currently owns properties in Miami, New York and New Jersey, according to its website. In Miami, it recently sold a retail property in foreclosure for $11.8 million and the Wynwood Arcade for $13.3 million.