New Movie Studio Reels In Brentwood Office Space

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New Movie Studio Reels In Brentwood Office Space
12301 Wilshire Blvd. building.

A new motion picture studio founded by Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Group Inc. is establishing its headquarters in Brentwood.

Open Road Films is setting up shop at 12301 Wilshire Blvd. after signing a seven-year lease, valued at just under $2.5 million. Headed by former Lions Gate Entertainment Group and Weinstein Co. executive Tom Ortenberg, the studio will occupy about half of the top floor, or approximately 9,000 square feet, of the newly renovated six-story building located between Centinela Avenue and Bundy Drive.

Eager to ensure they have an adequate supply of films to screen, Knoxville, Tenn.-based Regal and Kansas City, Mo.-based AMC established Open Road as some of the major studios narrow the window between theatrical release and a film’s appearance on home entertainment platforms. DirecTV recently announced it will offer a Sony film later this year 60 days after release.

Open Road will open its doors June 1, with space for 45 people. The company will buy small film projects at any stage of production, from scripts to completed movies. It plans to release up to 10 movies a year, with its first film, still undisclosed, coming out later this year.

Built in 1976, the building formerly known as Wilshire Pacific Plaza was acquired in 2008 by a subsidiary of TPMC Realty Corp. The Dallas-based private equity firm completed a $5 million renovation last year.

“Representing a large tenant like this, we had 15 different options to look at,” said Travis Landrum, partner at Industry Partners, who represented Open Road. “It was a great economic package: below-market, long-term deal that met all their needs and was a cool creative space.”

Also representing Open Road was Industry Partners’ Andrew Jennison. The landlord was represented by Christian Holland of Coldwell Banker Commercial Westmac.

Scoring Points

Entertainment and tech companies in the San Fernando Valley and an easing credit market gave a boost to Douglas Emmett Inc. in the first quarter.

The Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust saw office occupancy rates for its 11 buildings in the Sherman Oaks-Encino submarket, including the Sherman Oaks Galleria, rise almost a full point compared with a year earlier to 90.2 percent. In contrast, the occupancy rate of the REIT’s total portfolio declined a full point to 88.7 percent, largely because of weakness on the Westside.

Douglas Emmet has a portfolio of 67 office and multifamily properties in California and Honolulu.

“There has been a lot of tech activity, more actually than we would have expected out in … Sherman Oaks-Encino,” said Executive Vice President Theodore E. Guth in a conference call last week. “I don’t think it’s to the point that it was in 2000 or so forth when things were absolutely crazy, but it may be getting there.”

The company said it was able to refinance a $510 million loan at better terms, contributing to improved funds from operations, a key metric for REITS that adds amortization and depreciation back into net income to get a better picture of cash flow. FFO was a reported $64.4 million (41 cents per diluted share) compared with $48.1 million (31 cents) a year earlier. FFO beat a Thomson Reuters analyst consensus estimate by 4 cents a share.

The company narrowed its net loss to $349,000, from $8.3 million a year earlier, and increased its full-year FFO guidance by 4 cents to a range between $1.27 and $1.35 a share.

Downtown Move

Commercial real estate attorney Steven Fein, a partner at DLA Piper who headed the Baltimore firm’s downtown L.A. office, was hired away last week by Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

Feinstein was named partner by the Chicago firm and will run its downtown office. He is moving just down the road; both firms have their offices on South Hope Street.

“The opportunity for me was very good,” said Fein. “I think they are very committed to growing real estate throughout the country and they have a good platform throughout the U.S. in most major cities and particularly on the West Coast.”

The Long Island, N.Y., native worked in DLA Piper’s real estate practice since early 2005, and previously was with downtown-based Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP.

Fein, 54, specializes in commercial real estate transactions, including joint-venture equity investments and lending. He has served on the real estate section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, as well as the real estate finance Southern California subsection of the State Bar of California. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Union College and a J.D. from Albany Law School, both in New York state.

Staff reporter Jacquelyn Ryan can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.

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