Warner Bros is expanding in Burbank and has unveiled plans to move into two Frank Gehry-designed ‘iceblock’ towers.
The Hollywood studio is to buy a portion of The Burbank Studios and will be the sole and long-term tenant of the two buildings, which have been developed by Worthe Real Estate Group and Stockbridge Real Estate Fund. It will move into the new buildings in 2023, coinciding with the AT&T-owned studio’s 100th anniversary.
Gehry is one of the world’s best-known architects and has designed buildings including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, IAC’s New York HQ and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
The deal was unveiled by Kim Williams, Executive Vice President and CFO, Warner Bros., Jeff Worthe, President, Worthe Real Estate Group and Gehry.
The 800,000-square-foot office building complex will consist of a seven-story building of approximately 355,000 square feet and a nine-story building of approximately 445,000 square feet with work set to start later this fall.
Separately, Warner Bros will sell its 30-acre Warner Bros. Ranch located on Hollywood Way as well as three buildings the Triangle Building (4001 West Olive Avenue), Glass Building (3903 West Olive Avenue) and Wood Building (111 N. Hollywood Way) to Worthe Real Estate Group and Stockbridge but will lease back the space until the new offices are open.
“This is an opportunity to reimagine not only our workspace but our future,” said Williams. “Along with our historic lot, the newly expanded campus will fuel increased creativity, facilitate collaboration, and help us attract and retain the world’s best and most diverse talent. It will also better position our company for the future and provide for more production capacity. This is an investment in our employees, our creative and business partners, and the Burbank community that will continue to be our home for decades to come.”
“Once upon a time, Hollywood Studios had an important architectural presence in the city – they were like monuments to the movie-making process. With this project, I was trying to recapture that feeling of old Hollywood splendor,” said Gehry. “We wanted to create a 21st century version that would have a strong and unique identity for Jeff Worthe and for Warner Bros. in the center of Burbank. We created large open floorplates with the single goal of creating the highest quality office space. From the freeway, the buildings are composed as one long sculptural glass façade that creates a single identity like icebergs floating along the freeway. On the studio side, the metal punched façade is terraced to relate to the scale and character of the existing studio buildings.
“We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with Warner Bros. which dates back over 30 years. We are thrilled to deliver these iconic buildings to Burbank and can’t think of a better way to honor Warner’s past 100 years and celebrate their exciting future. We will add these buildings to our existing portfolio of outstanding office properties that covers over 4,000,000 square feet in the City of Burbank alone,” said Worthe.
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