Old Warner Bros. Studio for Sale
August 30th, 2007 by Andre Soares
Via the Los Angeles Times:
"The historic former Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard, now occupied by television station KTLA-TV Channel 5, has been put up for sale by Tribune Co. [the Chicago-based conglomerate that also owns the Los Angeles Times] amid a wave of high-stakes real estate investment in Hollywood.
"No price has been set for the block-size property at the southeast corner of Sunset and Bronson Avenue that also houses Tribune Entertainment and Tribune Studios. In recent years, other studios and historic properties in the neighborhood have sold for millions of dollars as investors race to take part in Hollywood’s resurgence.
"A real estate expert who asked not to be identified because he may become involved in the bidding process valued the property at about $175 million. Nearby Sunset-Gower Studios, the former Columbia Pictures headquarters, sold this month for more than $200 million."
Warner Bros. built the studio in 1919. That’s where the first (part-)talking feature film, The Jazz Singer, was made in 1927. Since the 1930s, the Warner Bros. studios — formerly, the First National studios — have been located in Burbank, in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, though Warners continued to produce films on the Hollywood lot. The property was finally sold to Paramount in 1954.
According to the Times article, the Colonial-style building and a sound stage are registered historic properties, and cannot be demolished or "substantially altered."
Note: The old Warner Bros. Hollywood studio is not to be confused with the Warner-Hollywood lot, located at 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood.
More info on the Warner/KTLA studios here.
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