Raleigh/12″/mike1st/mark2nd
By ELIZABETH HAYES
Staff Reporter
One of the area’s largest independent TV and movie studio operators is in discussions to acquire Warner Bros.’ studio lot in West Hollywood.
“Our understanding is they’ve been in negotiations for at least two months and they’re very close to concluding a deal,” said West Hollywood Mayor Steve Martin. “There’s been some discussion they’d move forward with Warner Bros.’ master plan and may be building office space on or adjacent to the property.”
Officials at Raleigh Enterprises an owner/operator of commercial properties and entertainment studios would neither confirm nor deny that the company is talks to buy the studio lot. Warner Bros.’ spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti confirmed that the company has been contemplating such a move, but said no deal has been struck.
“We have been considering selling the studio in Hollywood. That’s still under consideration,” she said.
Warner Hollywood Studios is located on Santa Monica Boulevard west of La Brea Avenue. The property encompasses nearly 11 acres and includes 336,749 square feet of office space, seven sound stages, a state-of-the-art post-production facility, workshops, storage facilities and various miscellaneous structures, according to a 1992 master plan.
Warner Bros. filed that plan in anticipation of constructing more offices, sound stages and a parking garage, but the company has done little since then to move forward on that project. Instead, Warner has been consolidating its production operations at its Burbank studio lot for the last six or seven years.
“Whereas Warner has been a good corporate citizen, we don’t think they’re serious about future development there,” Martin said. “We get the impression it’s a good site, but dated and somewhat distant from the hustle and bustle of the main studios.”
Raleigh, however, might be interested in making improvements, he said.
“We believe Raleigh is more committed than Warner to having a functioning studio and an expansion,” Martin said. “Raleigh will be a more dynamic owner of the site.”
In addition, he said, Raleigh’s president and chief executive, entrepreneur George Rosenthal, is a “known West Hollywood player who brings some international muscle.”
Raleigh owns and operates the Sunset Marquee Hotel and operates some 26 sound stages, which it leases mostly to independent producers. Its sound stages are located on two separate studio lots the new 14-stage Manhattan Beach Studios developed by Shamrock Holdings and anchored by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., and Raleigh’s 10-acre lot across from Paramount Pictures in Hollywood.
If the sale goes through it would be a windfall for West Hollywood, because the property has not been reassessed for tax purposes in many years, Martin said.
The studio lot, which was built in the 1920s and ’30s, is in the somewhat neglected east end of West Hollywood, which is poised for redevelopment. Just east of the studio lot is a 7.5-acre site that four developers are currently competing for the right to redevelop with a retail center.
