Lax/16 inches/LK1st/mark2nd

By ELIZABETH HAYES

Staff Reporter

First it was Burbank, then Santa Monica, then Culver City. Now Hollywood is venturing farther afield and to an even more unlikely area: Los Angeles International Airport.

It’s hardly a stampede, but entertainment-related companies have begun to lease warehouses and in some cases office space near the airport. Brokers in the area say the opening of the $77 million Manhattan Beach studios last June (where Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. is the anchor tenant) and DreamWorks SKG’s plans to build its studio at nearby Playa Vista have sparked interest among companies that traditionally have avoided the airport except, of course, to board a plane.

“Ten to 15 years ago, no entertainment companies would have come here,” said Izzy Eichenstein, president of the Oakstone Co., who recently handled three lease transactions with entertainment firms for space in the LAX area.

The reason, according to Eichenstein, is financial. “Entertainment companies cannot find reasonably priced warehouse space in West L.A.,” he said.

Rents for an unadorned industrial building in Santa Monica run at least $1 per square foot per month, vs. 70 cents to 90 cents near the airport, depending on the size, age and location of the building, brokers said.

As a result, industrial buildings near LAX are hard to come by these days. The area has an industrial vacancy rate of less than 2 percent, said Bill Goodglick, president of the Goodglick Co.

The movement LAX-ward remains in its infancy. Craig Meyer, senior vice president at the Seeley Co., said he expects entertainment-related companies to migrate there in the next two to five years. Meanwhile, the airport area remains mostly inhabited by air cargo and other industrial operations. The submarket’s office vacancy rate, which hovers at about 30 percent, is one of the highest in L.A. County.

Still, there has been a flurry of activity in recent weeks. El Segundo-based DirecTV leased warehouse space on Coral Circle; David E. Kelley Productions (of “Ally McBeal” fame) leased 14,000 square feet of warehouse space at 10800 S. La Cienega Blvd.; and Stilleto Entertainment, a management firm whose clients include Barry Manilow, leased an octagon-shaped building at 8295 S. La Cienega in Inglewood for its headquarters.

Sets for the movie “Godzilla” were stored on Bellanca Avenue, not far from the airport. And entertainer Michael Jackson also stores equipment near LAX.

The Manhattan Beach studios project, meanwhile, is expected to draw so-called “fill in” companies, which provide lights and props and ancillary services to the studio operations, Goodglick said.

Goodglick recently broke ground on a project that will include four buildings with 64,000 square feet at La Cienega and 120th Street. They will have fiber-optic wiring and 26-foot-high bays, in anticipation that at some point “they may have some studio significance or appeal to the entertainment industry,” he said.

While much of the space entertainment companies have leased so far is purely functional, one firm has brought a new twist to LAX real estate.

Walk into the offices of Rock-It-Cargo USA Inc. on 104th Street and you’ll think you’re in Santa Monica. Rock-It, which specializes in transporting “time-sensitive, high-value gear” for rock ‘n’ roll bands, orchestras and conventions, converted an old warehouse into creative office space, with a light, airy interior, exposed trusses, red and blue walls and a loft area.

Andy Dietz, executive vice president, said employees work long hours, so the goal was to provide a comfortable environment. “We’re dealing with high-end people, so we wanted to have a high-end office,” Dietz said. “It’s the Taj Mahal of the block.”