Warner Bros. Eyes Big Vegas Play
The firm committed to at least $8.5 billion in production spend at its new facilities.
Warner Bros. Discovery has partnered with UNLV and Birtcher Development. Under the agreement, the company would fully occupy and operate Nevada Studios, the primary studio complex of Las Vegas Media Campus, an 800,000-square-foot mixed-use project. WBD’s commitment in long-term production spend would total a minimum of $8.5 billion.
However, the project depends on a legislative proposal introduced by State Senator Roberta Lange in 2023, which is set to be reintroduced in the Nevada Legislature in February 2025. If the bill passes, WBD will spend about $500 million annually for 17 years, the length of time proposed by one of the legislative efforts to expand the state’s tax credit, The Daily Indy reported.
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Construction would begin within 18 months of the Governor signing the forthcoming legislation into law, which could generate up to $95 million in annual film tax credits, according to the same source. The Las Vegas studios will be renamed Warner Bros. Studios Nevada.
Project partners include Birtcher Development and Gardner Nevada Tech Park Studios, an affiliate of the Gardner Co. JLL is representing WBD.
A groundbreaking development
In April, the UNLV Research Foundation approved the agreement with developer Gardner Nevada Tech Park Studios to construct Las Vegas Media Campus, a property set to feature film studios and facilities for emerging content creation technologies. The 34-acre media complex would rise within Harry Reid Research & Technology Park, a 122-acre development that will also include 1.5 million square feet of office and retail space.
WBD’s space will also comprise the Nevada Media and Technology Lab, a production and immersive learning facility that will cater to the UNLV film and other academic departments. In addition, the building will have spaces for vocational training, internships and workforce development.
A JLL team led by Executive Managing Director Gary Horwitz, Managing Director Peter Hajimihalis and Director Will Poulsen is acting as representative for the entertainment company.
Production studios are in the spotlight
The surge in content demand is leading to a heightened focus on film and sound production studios in commercial real estate. Despite potential industry cutbacks, the demand for new content remains strong and the studio development pipeline won’t outpace it.
In June, East End Studios obtained a $130 million financing package for the construction of an approximately 250,000-square-foot production studio campus in Los Angeles. The already-underway project, the adaptive reuse of a concrete and steel cold storage warehouse, will come online by the end of next year.
Such projects are also developing in New Jersey, as they benefit from a new tax incentive program introduced last year. In May, Togus Urban Renewal LLC secured a Film-Lease Partner Facility designation from The New Jersey Economic Development Authority for its $1 billion, 1.5 million-square-foot development in Bayonne, N.J. The first campus-style film and studio facility in the Northeast will be completed in 2026.
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