Los Angeles’ Oldest Film Studio Hits Market

Los Angeles’ longest continuously operating film studio is up for sale as film and TV productions continue to flee the state.

Occidental Studios’ 3-acre Main Lot at 201 North Occidental Boulevard in Rampart Village is on the market for $45 million, CoStar reported. The property boasts more than 69,000 square feet of buildings and has hosted productions from 1910s silent films to 2010s TV hits “New Girl” and “Sharp Objects” throughout its 112-year history.

It’s a notably small parcel compared to the sprawling studio spaces occupied by major corporations like CBS’ Television City in the Fairfax District and Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. “It’s private, it’s intimate and it’s functional,” Occidental Entertainment Group Holdings CEO Craig Darian told CoStar. “It feels like Old Hollywood.”

A buyer would have access to four soundstages, including a recently constructed 15,000-square-foot stage. Other features include on-site parking, production offices and a base camp for trucks and trailers.

CBRE broker Nicole Mihalka told CoStar it’s the only lot of its size currently available for sale or lease across the city. “It’s rare to find something with this level of legacy and flexibility,” she said. Content creators and technology companies have already expressed interest in the property.

At about $651 per square foot, it wouldn’t be a cheap investment for a potential buyer, though Darian pointed out it would be easier to set up shop at the turnkey facility than spend years seeking zoning changes and building new infrastructure. In a similar sale, musician John Mayer bought the Jim Henson Company lot for $489 per square foot in December.

“This is a generational asset for a company that wants to make content or create experiences, or work in a habitat perfectly suited for other technology-driven ventures,” Darian said.

On-location filming in Los Angeles fell 22 percent in the first quarter year-over-year, with soundstage occupancy dropping to 63 percent, according to a report from nonprofit FilmLA. Despite the dip in L.A.-based productions, Occidental Studios has maintained a steady stream of users from premium cable shows and commercial shoots to special events.

Some companies are opting to adapt other commercial spaces into film studios in an effort to cut costs. Amazon, for example, redeveloped buildings in downtown Culver City into its Culver Studios facility. East End Studios’ forthcoming Mission Campus, set to open later this year in downtown L.A., is partially built at a former cold-storage facility.

Meanwhile, the expansion of California’s Film & Television Tax Credit, which would presumably bring productions back to the region, is currently stalled in the state legislature. That proposal was slated to more than double the incentive program to $750 million from $330 million annually. — Chris Malone Méndez