Postproduction Business Boosts Scene in Burbank

0

Postproduction company Pivotal Post is moving its headquarters to Burbank, a good omen for the media-driven city that was hit with high vacancy rates when Walt Disney Co. consolidated its offices earlier this year.

The firm, which provides digital editing to the entertainment industry, signed a 10-year deal last month for 17,125 square feet at 2901 W. Alameda Ave. with landlord Lionstone Group. The deal is valued at $5 million.

Pivotal Post is moving from its North Hollywood headquarters at 4142 Lankershim Blvd., its home for less than a year.

The Burbank lease brings the 138,000-square-foot, seven-story building to 100 percent occupancy. Other tenants include postproduction companies Todd-AO Corp. and Level 3 Post.

While the lease won’t have any significant impact on the overall vacancy rate in Burbank, the relocation is a good sign for a city left with a nearly half-million-square-foot hole when Disney consolidated at its studio lot and Glendale office buildings.

Pivotal Post was eager to become part of the Burbank media district hub, home to a number of large movie studios, said Robert D. Erickson, principal at Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, who represented the landlord.

“Space at this location is ideal for entertainment-related uses due to the proximity to NBCUniversal and Warner Bros., and the numerous local amenities,” he said.

Pivotal Post’s new space had been occupied by Ascent Media Corp., another postproduction company, and the site is already built out with editing rooms and technology space.

Trevor Belden of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura also represented the landlord. Andrew Lustgarten, Marcus Arredondo and Mark Sullivan of brokerage Studley represented Pivotal Post.

Commerce Sale

A Commerce industrial campus has traded hands for $17 million.

Ryzman Family Trust bought the three-building property at 1935-65 Tubeway Ave. in May from Ronald S. Bauer, trustee of the Ronald S. Bauer Living Trust.

The buildings, which together account for 202,838 square feet of industrial space, are fully occupied by a lighting supplier, which has five years left on its lease.

The sale, at about $83 a square foot, is about middle of the market for Commerce industrial property this year.

The transaction was the conclusion of a 1031 Exchange, which allows a buyer to avoid capital gains taxes on the sale of real estate if it acquires a property of the approximate value within six months. The Ryzman family sold a parcel of more than five acres on Malt Avenue in Commerce where it had planned an industrial building.

The family abandoned development plans for Malt Avenue last year and sought to buy an existing property closer to the Commerce offices of a cosmetics company it operates. The family intends to take over the Tubeway buildings for that company when the tenant’s lease expires.

Jack Cline, principal at Lee & Associates’ Central L.A. office who represented the buyer, said that there weren’t many buildings available for sale in the area.

“This off-market deal represents the difficulty in buying large, well-located properties in the current market,” he said.

Jeff Bethel, of Lee, also represented the buyer. The seller was represented by Michael Tsaparian of Lee and Tony Karakachian of Prudential California Realty.

Historic Hotel

The owner of Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel is seeking historical cultural monument status for the famed Century City site, which it planned to tear down only years ago.

Next Century Associates LLC, owner of the hotel, filed for the designation with the city of L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Commission on June 28.

The 47-year-old hotel is the centerpiece of an approved 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use development. The plan calls for two 46-story condo towers behind the hotel. It would also convert the top five floors of the hotel to condos for a total of 353 luxury condos on site. New shops and restaurants would also be added to the property.

The plan was developed as an alternative to a 2009 proposal to demolish the 726-room hotel to make way for two 50-story mixed-use towers. That proposal sparked a high-profile battle with local preservationists.

Years of negotiations among the developer, neighbors and preservationists resulted in the new plan, approved by the City Council in January.

The hotel, with its curved façade, has served celebrities, dignitaries and U.S. presidents, earning it the nickname the Western White House.

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

No posts to display