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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Empire of Late Bandleader

A division of The Welk Group Inc., mostly owned by descendents of band leader Lawrence Welk who brought the polka and fox trot into the living rooms of middle-America in the 1950s and ’60s, has acquired a Glendale film production studio. The Welk Group, though its Welk Studios LP unit, acquired Barwick Studios, one of the few remaining independent film studios, for about $10 million. The deal includes the real estate and the company, a working studio that is fully booked. The acquisition of Barwick Studios marks the Welk Group’s first foray into film studios. “We’re thrilled to be able to combine pretty vast experience in entertainment and real estate,” said Marc L. Luzzatto, president and COO of The Welk Group. “We think we can deliver a superior product and service to the entertainment industry because we understand both sides of the business.” The property includes a 100,000 square foot campus with four sound stages, production offices and parking on 5.5 acres. It is located at 4585 Electronics Drive, near the intersection of the Golden State Freeway (I-5) and Ventura Freeway (SR-134). Dave Maron, managing director at Stevenson Real Estate Services, represented the sellers. David Freitag, a broker with Daum Commercial Real Estate Services, represented Welk. Though the company was formed from its original property, The Lawrence Welk Show, this is not your father’s Welk. The Santa Monica-based Welk Group is a diversified entertainment and real estate firm with interests in music production, distribution and publishing, time share resorts and commercial real estate throughout Los Angeles. Its record labels, Vanguard and Sugar Hill, include artists like Mindy Smith and Nickel Creek, and Welk Music Distribution distributes such artists as Ray Charles and Hootie & the Blowfish. The company owns resorts in San Diego County and Branson, Mo. and it owns commercial property throughout Los Angeles. (For the nostalgic among you, The Lawrence Welk Show, which ran for 26 years, still airs in re-runs on PBS.) The studio will be renamed Welk Studios, and the company plans to upgrade the landscaping along with signage, guard gates and some interior improvements. “We see significant upside in improving the image of the property and it’s functionality,” said Luzzatto. “Ultimately, we would like to add sound stages, but we’ll do that as the business dictates.” Warner Center Sale Younan Properties has sold WarnerView Corporate Center, the Woodland Hills office building where the company has its headquarters, for $12.5 million. The company purchased the 62,000-square-foot building, at 5959 Topanga Canyon Blvd., less than a year ago for $9.4 million. Since then Younan has shored up occupancy and the building is now full. Younan, which moved its headquarters operation into the building when the company purchased it, will seek another location for its offices. Value Home Loan, the buyers, were represented by John Battle at Lee & Associates-L.A. North/Ventura Inc. No. Hollywood Sale An 84,000-square-foot industrial building in North Hollywood was sold for $4.25 million. Importer Brazil Granite acquired the building, at 11501 Hart St., to expand from another North Hollywood location. Ross Thomas at Delphi Business Properties represented the seller, Edmond Properties. Mike Loewenstein, a broker with TOLD Partners, represented the buyer. Senior Reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 316-3123

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