A $450 million Hollywood development is making a bold, old-fashioned bet on the future of filmmaking: build a new studio lot in the heart of Los Angeles.
Commercial real estate developer David Simon is behind Echelon Studios Hollywood, now rising along Santa Monica Boulevard on the former site of a Sears store.
The 600,000-square-foot campus is designed as a modern take on the classic studio lot, compressing what would traditionally require 10 acres into a vertically organized five-acre property.
According to the project look book, the complex will feature four 18,000-square-foot soundstages with 40-foot clear heights, along with a 14,000-square-foot flex stage offering a 25-foot clear height.
The stages will be supported by roughly 150,000 square feet of production facilities, offices, mill space and basecamp areas. An additional 350,000 square feet will house bungalows and other workspaces.
At the top of the project, a landscaped collection of private bungalows will encircle the development’s centerpiece: a 25,000-square-foot elevated courtyard overlooking the Hollywood Hills.
The Los Angeles Times reported that tenants will also have views of the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory and downtown Los Angeles.
Andrew Wright of architecture firm RIOS said the central design challenge was effectively fitting a 10-acre studio operation onto a site half that size.
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For Simon, recreating the atmosphere of a traditional studio lot was just as important as maximizing space. That meant including bungalows, a defining feature of Hollywood’s historic production campuses.
The project also required extensive soundproofing, with nearly 1,000 cars expected to park beneath the stages. Wright told the news outlet that the design uses multiple insulation layers, drywall and substantial concrete to limit noise and vibration.
Simon started planning Echelon roughly five years ago, during a period when streaming companies were pouring money into content and demand for soundstage space seemed virtually unlimited. His company, BARDAS Investment Group, is developing the studio.
“Hollywood is the greatest brand in the world. It’s not only a place, it’s an industry,” he told the LA Times.
Simon said expanded state tax incentives and a proposed 20% federal filming credit are helping bring production activity back to Hollywood. He also told the outlet that industry professionals generally prefer to shoot closer to home.
Facing Santa Monica Boulevard will be a public artwork by Los Angeles artist Matthew Brandt. The piece will combine Hollywood skyline images in a collage printed on weathered stainless steel panels, according to The Times.
Echelon is positioned in the center of Hollywood’s production corridor, between Netflix and Paramount Studios. Prospective tenants have already toured the property and begun lease discussions ahead of the studio’s planned opening early next year.
