East End Studios Gets $130M Loan

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East End Studios Gets $130M Loan
Rendering: Mission Campus in downtown.

One of the first ground-up studio projects since the entertainment work stoppages last year has moved forward, according to CBRE Group Inc., whose capital markets debt and structured finance team recently secured $130 million in construction financing for East End Studios’ new Mission Campus downtown.

The project, which is expected to cost roughly $230 million, is already under construction and estimated to be completed by the end of next year. It will be the studio developer’s fifth ever location. East End’s capital partner, King Street Capital Management LP, is providing the project’s remaining equity funding.

“While Los Angeles is the most expansive and diverse production market in the world, it remains under-supplied with modern purpose-built stages and fully integrated campuses,” Jonathon Yormak, cofounder and managing principal of East End Capital, said in a statement.

The facility, located in the Arts District, will span just over 300,000 square feet. It will feature five sound stages totaling 108,000 square feet, plus 105,000 square feet of production office support, a 38,000-square-foot mill, a rooftop area and 376 parking spaces.

It lies immediately adjacent to the Sixth Street Park, Arts and River Connectivity project. The $60 million project features grass fields, picnic areas and event spaces directly below downtown’s Sixth Street Bridge.

“Demand for premier, purpose-built studio space remains strong in Los Angeles and is expected to further accelerate as we enter the 2025 production cycle,” Greg Grant, a senior vice president at CBRE, said in a statement. “Ultimately, it was East End’s studio expertise and state-of-the-art design that gave our capital sources conviction in the project.”

According to CBRE research, Los Angeles leads North America in terms film and production space, boasting over 7.3 million square feet. Prior to the writer’s and actor’s strikes last year, Los Angeles studios saw average annual occupancy rates of 93.5% between 2016 and 2022, according to local operators.

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