A New York developer is moving forward with plans to redevelop the Los Angeles Times printing plant Downtown into a 26-acre soundstage and office complex for the entertainment industry.
Atlas Capital Group has won approval from the Los Angeles Planning Commission to convert the complex at 8th and Alameda streets into more than 830,000 square feet of soundstages, offices and support facilities in the Arts District, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
Rios, based in Leimert Park, is designing the two-phase 8th and Alameda Studios project, estimated to cost more than $650-million.
A parking lot on the west side of the property would be replaced by three new buildings containing six soundstages.
The printing plant building, still occupied by the L.A. Times on a long-term lease, would be redeveloped into 11 more sound stages at a later date.
Other components of the project include more than 200,000 square feet of offices and more than 300,000 square feet of stage support space. Additionally, a new nine-story, 1,522-car parking garage would be built on the northeast corner of the property.
Construction of 8th and Alameda Studios is expected to begin next year and take 34 months to complete in 2026.
When plans were initially revealed in 2021, the Times reported that the newspaper’s lease is set to expire at the end of 2023, but included renewal options that could run for at least a decade.
Atlas paid $240 million for the site in 2019, which includes over 630,000 square feet of manufacturing and distribution space.
The property was built in 1988, and is on Olympic Boulevard along the Santa Monica Freeway. A group led by Harridge Development sold Atlas the property, just three years after purchasing it.
The last few years have been a golden age for Hollywood production studios and soundstages. Developers have been scrambling to capitalize on the demand across L.A., from the likes of Netflix, Apple and Amazon.
While the Arts District has not historically been the site of film production studios, plans for the 8th and Alameda site may have set off a trend, according to Urbanize.
A few blocks north at 6th and Alameda Streets, East End Capital recently acquired a 15-acre industrial property with the intent of building up to 17 soundstages.
San Francisco-based real estate investment trust Prologis has also purchased land nearby, which could be developed with a logistics center or soundstages, according to marketing materials.
Atlas Capital Group also owns the neighboring 32-acre ROW DTLA at 7th and Alameda, a former industrial facility with more than 1.3 million square feet of offices.
[Urbanize Los Angeles] – Dana Bartholomew
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