Developers have submitted plans for a $500 million development to turn the iconic corner of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Hollywood into a creative office and recording center.
CMNTY Culture, which was founded by Grammy Award-winning artist Philip Lawrence and entertainment business manager Thomas St. John, announced plans for the 500,000-square-foot project. Lawrence owns the recording studio the Record Plant.
The development will be known as CMNTY Culture Campus and is being designed by Dallas-based HKS Inc. and landscaped by Hood Design Studio, based in Oakland.
The project will sit on nearly 2 acres.
“The entertainment industry is experiencing a time of unparalleled excitement and change, bringing about an opportunity to reimagine the landscape upon which content is created and consumed,” Lawrence said in a statement. “Now, we live in a new era where creatives and their audiences seek opportunities to collaborate and interact, not just in the digital sphere, but in-person. Content creators need a physical epicenter, a place that celebrates their work and the power of community. CMNTY Culture Campus will be a place where creative people will want to hang out with like-minded individuals and experience something special.”
The project is expected to have 430,000 square feet of creative office space, studio/production space, pre- and post-production facilities, education space and performance venues. The campus will be home to a 500-seat auditorium at Highland and Sunset.
CBRE Group Inc. will handle leasing for the property.
Patrick Amos, a senior vice president at CBRE, said the CMNTY Culture Campus would “fit in well” with the Hollywood area.
“The location is excellent and many companies, as they were pre-Covid, the leading companies were most concerned about recruiting and retaining their top talent. That still exists but the extra layer Covid added is how do you bring people back to work … and as we move forward out of Covid you’re going to see different kinds of experimentations within companies to fine-tune the meaning for office.”
Amos said that like all markets, Hollywood was hit by Covid but “seems to be bouncing back quite well, particularly as it relates to newly constructed or heavily renovated office product.”
“Recording studios, soundstages, screening rooms, things of that nature, all of which that project incorporates, are going to take on added importance,” Amos added. “These kinds of things will appeal more to tenants even than they did before.”
Amos added there has been a “flight to quality” and newer developments are leasing well.
Amos said strong numbers, demand for the space and the momentum of the first wave of development in Hollywood a few years ago are all leading to continued interest in the space.
“Hollywood is poised to continue that growth,” Amos said. “It’s the entertainment capital of the world both historically and in terms of the new streaming media which is so pervasive today.”
“Relative to almost anywhere in Los Angeles, you’re still seeing the development of office and residential and retail and hospitality,” Amos said of Hollywood.
