A piece of Hollywood history, tacky as it may have been, is gone. The Venice studios where director Roger Corman made movie stars out of silly monsters and buxom babes have been torn down to make way for a $16.5 million, four-building artist-in-residence development.
The B-movie baron’s production company, New Concorde, was shooting at the property right up to the close of escrow on April 2, according to Tom Krentzin, New Concorde’s director of acquisitions. Corman, who turned 75 on April 5, bought the property at 615 Hampton Drive in Venice in 1979 for $500,000.
Robert Delia, manager of the acquiring development company, GTO/Hampton LLC, said there is little in the way of nostalgia at the site. The three soundstages that Corman had left behind were hardly historic landmarks, even if they were the birthplace of “Rock ‘n Roll High School”, “Humanoids from the Deep” and “Battle Beyond the Stars.”
“The condition of those buildings (was) absolute trash,” Delia said. “I couldn’t believe that he made movies there.”
Corman did make movies there, however, and oftentimes would disturb the neighborhood with his hokey explosions and caterwauling creatures, Delia said.
Delia initially learned of the one-acre property from a broker who knew he was looking for a parcel to build his artist-in-residence project. The developer paid $4.3 million for the property, according to Krentzin. And the total estimated cost of the project, including land acquisition, is $16.5 million, Delia said.
Andrew Levant, a senior broker with George Smith Partners, arranged financing for GTO/Hampton, including a $2.5 million mezzanine loan from Genesis L.A. Real Estate.
Shamrock Holdings, the investment arm of the Roy Disney family, provided the mezzanine loan for Genesis L.A. Joe Fahey, manager of real estate at Shamrock, said that Delia’s project would contribute to the momentum already building in Venice. Notable neighbors of the development include actor Dennis Hopper, artist Charles Arnoldi and high-tech production studio Digital Domain Inc.
“We really think this is going to be good for Venice,” Fahey said. “This is right in the middle of what’s becoming an interesting place.”
Levant said the closing of escrow was delayed while Corman and the American Film Institute cleared out the space. Corman sent AFI to salvage whatever materials and equipment it wanted. AFI sound stage supervisor Joe Dunn said the institute made off with a bunch of props and costumes and a production van.
“There were a lot of cool sets and a student production is already using one as an apartment in Guam,” Dunn said.
Krentzin added that New Concorde also donated to AFI the car from the “Black Scorpion” television program, as well as other items to Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles and to Out of the Closet Thrift Stores.
Although he’s building the development tentatively called Hampton Studios on spec (without any units pre-sold), Delia said he’s confident of its success.
“I’m going to be offering units that I think are competitively priced in the marketplace on the Westside,” he said, adding that his for-sale units will range from $300,000 to $500,000 each.
Floor plans will range from 1,100 square feet to 1,800 square feet, with most coming in at 1,400 square feet. To keep the units in the same basic per-square-foot price range, Delia said, units with better views would be outfitted with fewer amenities than those with little or no views.
Delia said he expects his customers to be artists who are currently renting both an apartment and a studio space, but would prefer to combine their living and working space, as well as work-at-home couples.
“We think we’re going to pull people from Santa Monica and Marina del Rey, because of the prices,” he said.
Corman decided to sell the property, Krentzin said, because the Westside real estate market made it a lucrative proposition. The director now splits his time between Los Angeles, New York and Galway, Ireland. Many of his productions will now be shot in Ireland and on location, Krentzin said.
