BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. and a partnership between Worthe Real Estate Group and San Francisco-based investment firm Stockbridge have reached a deal for the Studio to lease back from Worthe a brand-new studio redevelopment that is planned on the historic Ranch Lot. The announcement was made today by Jeff Nagler, President, Warner Bros. Worldwide Studio Operations, and Jeff Worthe, President, Worthe Real Estate Group.
“We are very pleased to further our ongoing relationship with Jeff Worthe and his outstanding team, and we’re excited for this opportunity to utilize the best-in-class Ranch property that the Worthe Group is creating over the next few years,” said Nagler. “Continuing to enhance our state-of-the-art studios and full-service offerings for our productions and partners is a key priority for our company, and the new Ranch Lot development will certainly fulfill this goal in the Los Angeles area.”
“Worthe and Stockbridge are excited to continue to expand our relationship with Warner Bros.,” said Worthe. “This new development, at 926,000 square feet including 16 sound stages, will be the largest studio development in the country when the project begins development next year.”
Worthe Real Estate Group will be developing an entirely new landscape on the Ranch property, featuring 16 sound stages with connected production support space, a multi-level parking structure, a commissary, mill space and a 320,000-square-foot office complex. With the addition of these stages to the existing 32 across the Studio’s main lot and eight at The Burbank Studios facility, Warner Bros. will provide a total of 56 sound stages to support WarnerMedia’s Los Angeles-based production activity upon taking up residence of the Ranch in 2025. The Studio hopes to take advantage of the new California infrastructure program that encourages the construction of soundstages in the state.
Through a deal first announced in April 2019, Worthe and Stockbridge will acquire the Ranch Lot property in 2023. As part of this agreement, Warner Bros. will become the sole long-term tenant to fully occupy two Frank Gehry-designed office buildings, known as the Second Century campus, currently under development on a portion of the nearby Burbank Studios site. This 800,000-square-foot office complex is owned and being built by Worthe and Stockbridge.
Additionally, as part of this same agreement, Warner Bros. will purchase from Worthe and Stockbridge the remaining portion of The Burbank Studios campus situated adjacent to the Second Century development, providing the Studio with additional production office space and eight soundstages, as well as a mill building and a commissary.
Located a mile north of the Studio’s main 100-acre lot in Burbank, the Warner Bros. Ranch serves as a major hub of production activity in Burbank and houses the offices of both Warner Bros. Animation and The CW. First acquired and operated by Columbia Pictures in 1934 until Warner Bros. took ownership of the property in 1990, the Ranch Lot has famously been home to decades of iconic productions, ranging from classics like “Bewitched” and “The Waltons” to modern crime drama “Animal Kingdom” and fan favorite “Young Sheldon.”
