LA Warehouse to Be Converted to Sound Studio

2852 Witherspoon Parkway. Image courtesy of CBRE

LA North Studios, a sound stage and film production studio, has signed a 70,550-square-foot lease with landlords Desert Orchard and Golden Westminster Investments for a building in Santa Clarita, Calif. A CBRE team including Executive Vice President Craig Peters and First Vice President Sam Glendon arranged the transaction. 

Located within the Valencia Commerce Center, the facility at 28525 Witherspoon Parkway was originally built for MechanixWear Gloves in 2006 and served as the company’s headquarters until 2020, when the current owners acquired it for approximately $11 million.

LA North’s new location includes a 20,000-square-foot office space and 54,000 square feet of warehouse room on 5.4 acres. The tenant plans to convert the facility to sound stages, while the office space will serve as production studio. Building specs include 28-foot clear heights and 1,600 amps power. The property is within 2 miles of Interstate 5, connecting to the Hollywood film hub, some 30 miles to the east.  

The most recent lease will bring LA North’s studio space to more than 460,000 square feet across five Santa Clarita locations. LA North, which launched in 2019, has been growing its business in the last years working for clients, such as Warner Bros., Disney, Netflix and Amazon. In November 2020, the studio signed a five-year 113,640-square-foot lease with Trammell Crow Co. and Clarion Partners for Building 5 at The Center at Needham Ranch.

Demand for production facilities has exploded since the start of the pandemic. In 2020, the global entertainment market surpassed $100 billion for the first time ever, with digital home entertainment accounting for more than half of the revenue, according to Forbes. 

In the face of strong national competition, the California film industry is benefiting from state support in its bid to stay ahead of the game. In July last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a two-year $330 million bill offering tax incentives for film and television production, with some $150 million set aside solely for sound stage revamping.