Studio City Makes Move to North Hollywood

Studio City, an entertainment marketing firm, has signed a six-year lease valued at roughly $3.4 million in North Hollywood. The company, which produces television promos, is one of the first tenants at 5161 Lankershim Blvd. since Disney Interactive, its former sole tenant, vacated it over the last year for a new Walt Disney Co. campus in Glendale. Studio City is taking 19,000 square-feet and joins appraisal company Landmark Network Inc., which already occupies about 13,000 square-feet. Animation studio Bento Box Entertainment LLC plans to take up about 26,000 square-feet in September with Studio City planning a January move-in. The 181,757-square-foot building will be about 35 percent occupied with all three tenants. Rents for the building are $2.65 per square foot, according to CoStar Group Inc. The 72-month lease has Studio City paying about $2.50 per square-foot, but Scott Romick, principal at the Sherman Oaks office of Lee & Associates, who represented Studio City, said it was a market deal. Romick added that the building is attractive because it serves as a smart alternative for entertainment businesses that can’t afford Hollywood or other higher rent neighborhoods. Founded in 1995, Studio City produces promos for some of the biggest shows on TV including “Criminal Minds,” “Anderson Cooper” and “Ellen.” It is moving from a 10,000 square-foot office at 4705 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Studio City. The North Hollywood building is owned by Beverly Hills real estate investment trust Kennedy Wilson Holdings Inc., which bought it on Aug. 28 – the same day Studio City signed its lease – from Jamison Services Inc. of Los Angeles for $45 million. Kennedy put up $7.9 million in cash for the purchase, with $30 million in financing coming from Pacific Western Bank and the remainder from one of Kennedy’s partners. John Prabhu, president of Kennedy Wilson’s commercial investment group, said the firm will look to lease to similar tenants. “We believe it has intrinsic characteristics that will allow it to strongly capitalize on the tenant demand created by the technology, media and entertainment industries that proliferate the region and largely drive its economy,” he said. Encino Acquisition Just as Kennedy Wilson is investing in North Hollywood, it has sold an Encino building to Douglas Emmett Inc. The 191,000 square-foot Encino Executive Plaza at 16501 Ventura Blvd. changed hands for $61 million. The building is 87 percent leased, according to real estate data firm CoStar. Tenants range from General Electric Co., which has just 8,500 square-feet, to Specialty Surgical Center, which has the most space at 12,500 square-feet. Stuart McElhinney, vice president of investor relations for Douglas Emmett, a Santa Monica real estate investment trust, said the building, constructed in 1986, is close to the Ventura (101) Freeway and is attractive. “There’s a lot to like about this building. This is one of the better-looking buildings on Ventura Boulevard,” he said. The purchase brings the company’s total portfolio in the Sherman Oaks-Encino area to about 3.4 million square-feet, including five major properties on Ventura and Sepulveda Boulevards, such as the Sherman Oaks Galleria and the 387,000-square-foot Valley Executive Tower. Billionaire Landlord Westridge Village, a 97,286-square-foot shopping center in Valencia, sold for $33.5 million last month. Kroenke Group, of Columbia, Mo. bought the building from Regency Centers Corp., a Jacksonville, Fla. company that operates more than 300 shopping centers nationwide. The 26850 The Old Road shopping center is 96 percent leased and anchored by a 51,000-square-foot Albertson’s grocery. Other tenants include a Bank of America branch, BevMo, Starbucks and Panda Express. The center serves the 1,700 unit Westridge housing development and is near the Golden State (5) Freeway. Kroenke Group was founded by Stan Kroenke, billionare owner of the Pepsi Center in Denver and majority owner of the St. Louis Rams football team. Staff Reporter Elliot Golan can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or [email protected].