RE Column

Realestate column/ 23″/dt1st/mark2nd BY SHELLY GARCIA Staff Reporter The debate over the future of high-definition television has not stopped one local company from gearing up for the new technology. Performance Post Inc., a 15-year-old video post-production company, is set to more than double its quarters in a move to expand into the high-definition arena. The company has signed a seven-year lease valued at more than $3 million for 18,000 square feet of space at 4130 Cahuenga Blvd. in North Hollywood. The move is part of a multimillion-dollar investment to add high-definition post-production technology to its lineup of traditional equipment. “We’re adding more functionality and more services and rooms as we go,” said Fausto Sanchez, president of Performance Post. “We’re using this as an economic opportunity.” High-definition television, a digital format that promises crystal-clear pictures and movie-theater-quality sound, has stirred up much debate in the industry. Some say the technology is just too expensive for the mass market and will only be adopted in limited ways. But Sanchez believes that with a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring television stations to convert to high definition by the year 2006, it is just a matter of time before the format replaces conventional analog broadcasting. “I basically told everybody that we were legislated out of business,” he said. “All the equipment we have will cease to be functional for the new format. We were faced with the decision to go off and do something else, or look at retooling the facility and encompassing the future.” The company has already started working in the format with some of its current clients. Performance Post helped launch ABC’s high-definition broadcasts last November, and worked on the television premiere of Walt Disney Co.’s “101 Dalmatians” in the new format. Sanchez hopes that by being one of the first to adopt the new technology, the company can attract clients that are currently using other post-production facilities. In September, the company will move from its current 7,000-square-foot facility in Hollywood to the new quarters. Performance Post, which currently employs about 22 staffers, expects to add another seven employees within the next year to accommodate the expansion. The new facility will be housed in a 72,000-square-foot building acquired in April by Adler Realty Advisors. Robert Erickson, Trevor Belden and Matthew Cusumano of Lee & Associates represented the landlord. Stacy Vierheilig-Fraser of Charles Dunn Co. represented Performance Post. More Burbank office development Trammell Crow Co. has acquired an eight-acre site on North Hollywood Way in Burbank for about $7.1 million and is already laying plans to build a three-story, class-A office building at the site. Trammell obtained entitlements for the 155,000-square-foot spec building, which it plans to start constructing in the third quarter. First, it plans to demolish several industrial buildings at the site, which is across the street from Burbank Airport, said Mark Ossola, senior vice president of development with Trammell Crow. Ossola said the new building will have a large floor plates and two courtyards, which should appeal to entertainment tenants. Trammell acquired the property from AREH of New York, which had done a sale-leaseback deal with Lockheed Martin Corp. Brad Koehler of the Seeley Co. represented both sides in the deal, while Trammell will handle the development, management and leasing of the building. Sony deal in North Hollywood Sony Pictures Entertainment leased 27,000 square feet in the Academy Building in North Hollywood for two animated television shows. The four-year lease is valued at just under $3 million. “It solidifies the Valley as the hub of animation,” said Scott Murphy of Prentiss Properties Ltd., which owns the building at 5200 Lankershim Blvd. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is another tenant in the building, as is Walt Disney Co., which just renewed its 60,000-square-foot lease for five more years, Murphy said. Sony, which is consolidating its TV animation business from Culver City and a studio lot, was represented by Carl Muhlstein and Michael Burlant of Cushman Realty Corp. Burbank sale New Wave Entertainment, an entertainment advertising company, has purchased a 40,000-square-foot building in Burbank for $6.9 million. The seller for the building, at 2660 West Olive Ave., was All Post Inc. The new owners are investing about $2.5 million to renovate the property. “They’re going to create a state-of-the-art entertainment corporate headquarters,” said Mark Sullivan, a broker with Julien J. Studley Inc., who represented New Wave and Regent Properties, which partnered on the deal. Doug Marlow and Brian Davies at CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented the seller. Canoga Park deal A group of investors has acquired a three-story building in Canoga Park for $2 million. The 30,000-square-foot building located at 7301 Topanga Canyon Blvd. will undergo renovation, including common areas and landscaping, said Scott Silverstein, a broker with Charles Dunn Co., who represented the buyers, R & R; Enterprises, and seller, Intercoastal Properties, in the deal. News and notes Gateway Computers leased 9,361 square feet of retail space at the Oxnard Marketplace Freeway Center at 1700 Ventura Blvd. The center, owned and managed by Redhill Partners, also houses Wick’s Furniture, Red Lobster and Relax the Back, among other stores. It is fully leased. Bill Hagelis of Capital Commercial/NAI represented Redhill. Wally Limberg of SRA represented Gateway Telesis Credit Union has moved into its newly completed corporate headquarters in Chatsworth. Telesis occupies 26,000 feet in the new facility.