By MICHAEL AUSHENKER Staff Reporter Photos by THOMAS WASPER Historically, Sylmar has not figured at the top of hot real estate markets in the San Fernando Valley. But recently the neighborhood in the northeast corner of the Valley has seen surprising action, as has neighboring Pacoima, which has become a favorite for television shows leaving Hollywood in the hunt for more affordable production space. Entertainment influx The biggest commercial real estate story to drop in Pacoima is Quixote Studios — North Valley, which represents the merging of two entities: industrial real estate development heavyweight Xebec of Texas, and Quixote Studios Chief Executive Mikel Elliott, who extended beyond his film production equipment business to build a facility where television content for streamers could be produced. Located at 12137 Montague St., Quixote Studios was originally intended by Xebec to serve an e-commerce distributor. However, after the firm crossed paths with Elliott in the earliest phase of construction, Xebec decided to tailor the warehouse for entertainment production. In August, Hollywood officially tilted northward as Quixote Studios – North Valley debuted its $25 million lot with five soundstages and 20,000 square feet of production offices for a 75,000-square-foot total footprint on 10 acres. The development represented a giant leap forward for Pacoima. “We’ve struggled to find locations for filming in the Los Angeles area, so opening stages like this really gives us an opportunity to continue promoting Los Angeles as a destination for film,” FilmLA President Paul Audley, who attended the Quixote opening, said in a statement. A primary attribute of the stages, where Sony Picture Television’s “Them: Covenant” signed a two-season commitment for production of the Amazon Studios series, is parking for hundreds of vehicles, including trucks. Pacoima has proved the perfect neighborhood for filming. “You need big buildings, 40-foot-high ceilings, and you need a ton of parking. Hard to find that unless you intend to purpose-build it,” Elliott told the Business Journal last year. Plus, Pacoima has easy proximity to Hollywood via the 170 and 5 freeways. In addition to Quixote, the East Valley hosts an entertainment-related business of another sort. Opened in Sylmar in the summer of 2018, Dr. Greenthumb Pot Dispensary, located at 12767 Foothill Blvd., was early to capitalize on California’s legalization of marijuana in January 2018. The dispensary, named after a Cypress Hill track on the Los Angeles rap group’s 1998 album “Cypress Hill IV,” has the endorsement of the group’s front man, bilingual rapper B-Real (born Louis Freese). Freese, a long-time San Fernando Valley resident, is part-owner. Dr. Greenthumb has been the backdrop of B-Real TV, Freese’s cannabis culture digital media outlet. “We have a lot of history behind us as it relates to music and the pro-legalization movement,” Freese said in a contemporaneous press release. “It’s a blessing to put down roots of our first storefront in our backyard and serving our community with a premium cannabis experience.” Residential opportunities With home price and rents in adjacent markets at historically high levels, the East Valley has attracted a number of residential fill-in projects. Last year, affordable housing developer Meta Housing Corporation & Western Community Housing Inc. filed with the city of Los Angeles to envision a multifamily development slated for a vacant lot in Sylmar. The proposed complex at 12663-12667 San Fernando Road, which had been home to a small commercial building and parking lot, would see 56 apartments. The property is zoned for development up to three stories in height. The developer is requesting density bonus incentives, in which it would be granted relief from certain zoning restrictions in exchange for providing lower-income units. Also on the affordable range, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles is the driving engine behind the Sylmar Court Apartments, which opened earlier this year at 14920 Astoria St. “With the homelessness that the City of L.A. is facing, it’s important to have projects such as Sylmar Courts that is a 100 percent affordable housing development,” said Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles Assistant Director of Section 8 Ryan Mulligan in a statement. Sylmar Court has 101 units consisting of large one-, two- and three-bedroom units with monthly rents averaging $442 to $1,256. Another Sylmar project will see a group of a dozen single-family homes built on a U-shaped lot at 15523 Cobalt St. Per a city of Los Angeles application in 2018, developer PW Properties and Integrity Property Group would also build a private road. Medical facilities In October, L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a master plan for Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, paving the way for an expansion of the hospital’s existing Sylmar campus at 14445 Olive View Drive. Located on 230 acres that was built in the early 1920s, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center has served as an acute care facility since the 1970s. The six-story hospital tower on-site was completed in 1987. Crafted by Smith Group, the proposed master plan has two tiers, with the second due for completion after the year 2035. Tier I projects, slated for undeveloped sites to the north and east of the existing hospital, will include a two-story, 16,000-square-foot recuperative care center for individuals recovering from an acute illness or injury that no longer require inpatient hospital care; five two-story buildings comprising a residential treatment program facility toward inpatient mental health care; a single-story mental health urgent care center to replace the current counterpart on the campus; a single-story mental health wellness center to provide outpatient mental health and supportive services; a 296,000-square-foot ambulatory care center for outpatient care; a 20,000-square-foot community center; 96,000 square feet of administrative services building; and 637 parking spaces. The hospital may develop the following for its Tier II round: Two new buildings totaling 120,000 square feet devoted to medical offices, educational and research facilities; senior, fitness and child care centers; a three-story, 135,000-square-foot long-term care facility; up to 40,000 square feet of retail; and 437 parking spaces. Since the arrival of the coronavirus, Sylmar’s medical market has seen a significant hit. Second Sight Medical Products Inc., the visual prosthetics company, laying off 84 of its 108 employees in response to COVID-19 challenges, with the company announcing intentions to wind down operations. But once the pandemic passes, expect the Sylmar and Pacoima markets to continue their transformation into Valley industrial and residential hubs as entertainment, medical and other industries fan out across the Valley floor.
