A Beverly Hills developer aims to build 130,000 square feet of mixed-use soundstages and offices in Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw to amplify Black voices in the entertainment industry.
Pantheon Business Consulting plans to build 50,000 square feet of soundstages and 80,000 square feet of offices and restaurants at 3701 and 3731-3761 Stocker Street, Bisnow reported.
The production campus, dubbed Stocker Street Creative, would take up a corner on Stocker Street, between Santa Rosalia and Don Felipe drives, across from Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
The 5-acre project would partially replace mid-century brick medical and office buildings, while preserving two of the buildings for adaptive reuse as culturally significant for having housed some of the first Black doctors and dentists in South Los Angeles.
The largely Black development team wants the first production studio in South L.A. to be used by major studios and independent filmmakers, while serving as an economic driver and business incubator.
“The goal is to be able to have a very fluid environment where there are levels and degrees of access, that ultimately there’s still a feel of a campus that is being utilized by the community,” said Stan Washington, CEO of Pantheon Business Consulting, who lives in the neighborhood.
“We have been very fortunate this has been a project that has not received a lot of negative pushback from the community,” he said.
The partially open campus would include secured production studios, offices to house nonprofit agencies, fast-casual eateries and a rooftop restaurant. Renderings include a range of two- and four-story brick buildings, though plans have changed to include the preserved medical offices.
A landscaped plaza between two of the brick buildings could host art installations and events.
4S Bay Partners, based in Chicago, has committed $100 million for the Stocker Street Creative campus, according to the Los Angeles Standard. 4S is a family office led by Jessica Sarowitz, wife of Steve Sarowitz, founder of payroll firm Paylocity.
“The mission here is really tied to her, her focus on women, underserved communities, but most importantly, the ability for people of color to tell their stories,” Washington told Bisnow. “That really was the genesis here, in terms of creating a project that allows for storytelling.”
— Dana Bartholomew
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