NBCUniversal will build eight soundstages in an expansion and updating of its century old Universal Studios lot.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, Bastien and Associates Inc. will design the new soundstages, which will be constructed by next summer.
Grading has already been completed on what was previously unusable hillside, expanding space for the project from eight acres to 12 acres. The new soundstages will have solar panels to allow for working off the power grid during peak hours.
Upon the completion of the new filming facilities, there will be a total of 37 soundstages at Universal Studios.
Although the Comcast-owned studio did not reveal the cost of the project, NBCUniversal said it is investing $1 billion into an upgrade of the entire Universal lot. Last year, NBCUniversal began construction off Lankershim Boulevard on an 11-story, 350,000-square-foot office building — for production companies working at the studio — that will be completed in 2023.
NBCUniversal is also replacing its commissary, screening rooms and post-production facilities by 2023.
The announcement comes as movie studios and non-Hollywood stakeholders alike invest in creating new soundstages as entertainment production surges to meet the demand for content by such streamers as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV Plus.
Burbank-based Warner Bros., which launched its HBOMax streaming service in May of last year, announced last month that Worthe Real Estate Group and Stockbridge will redevelop the historic Ranch Lot in Burbank that the studio had sold to Worthe in a leaseback deal that will see 16 new soundstages created on 32 acres. That project, which will cost $500 million, will total 926,000 square feet. This is in addition to Warner Bros.’ Second Century overhaul of its main studio lot due in 2023.
Other projects currently in development include Hudson Pacific Properties’ Sunset Glenoaks Studios in Sun Valley, a new $190 million studio lot with seven soundstages totaling 240,000 square feet which also has a 2023 completion date.