Westwind Campus Project Creates Mini Media District

Post-production house Westwind Media this month expects to begin building a small media district in one of Burbank’s redevelopment areas. The company is investing about $500,000 to build a gated campus for its operations and nearby media companies, which lease space in its buildings, said Sunder Ramani, Westwind’s senior vice president. “We need to find a niche, and part of that is the atmosphere we create here,” Ramani said. Westwind provides post-production services to various TV series, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” “Family Guy,” and “24.” City redevelopment officials are hoping the project spurs similar improvements to other area properties. “We expect to see more,” activity, said Ruth Davidson-Guerra, assistant community development director for the City of Burbank. “It is not such an unknown for other businesses to come in.” Despite some opposition from its neighbors, Westwind recently purchased Spazier Avenue and Varney Street from the city in order to block the streets off from Flower Street with a gated entrance. Ramani said the entryway adds cache to the company’s location and creates a comfortable and secure facility for the talent coming to visit Westwind and its tenants. Recent façade improvements give Westwind and its tenants a uniform look, he said. Flower Street falls in the South San Fernando Redevelopment Area that hasgoals of business attraction, expansion and retention. Home Depot and CarMax opened there in 2006. Westwind has invested in improving its Burbank properties several times over the past decade. In 2001, the city’s redevelopment department made two loans to Westwind for various improvements to their properties. One loan was for $100,000 and the second was for $250,000. “We hope through public investment that private investment will follow,” said Davidson-Guerra. Westwind Media got off the ground in 1996. Its founders were noted television producers Steven J. Cannell and Steven Bochco and music arranger and composer Mike Post, who initially used the facility for shows they were working on. Later, they opened Westwind’s video editing and mixing bays and audio stages to outside productions. Through the years, the company acquired 10 neighboring properties. The properties were occupied by various tenants, including a Grammy Award-winning producer, a company editing in-flight movies and TV shows, a trade show display manufacturer, a 3D technology company and a few independent producers. Westwind became their landlord. These businesses do not compete with Westwind, but rather complement the post-production house, Ramani said. So it made sense to cluster the companies together behind a common gate, he said. The company began taking steps to buy Spazier Avenue and Varney Street from the city about four years ago. Burbank granted its approval last year. Westwind paid $67,000 for Varney Street, the appraised fair market value, according to a memo from the Community Development Department. Some neighboring businesses, including Brothers Iron Works and California K-9 Academy, raised concerns about closing off the streets. They said the move could increase traffic congestion and create safety problems. But engineering studies showed Westwind’s project would not impact the surrounding businesses and traffic patterns. The city is requiring Westwind to extend a hedge from the Westwind property along Varney to reduce sound from the freeway. The company also must pay to relocate existing water services and grant easements for emergency vehicles and city access to a sewer main. When completed, the campus will encompass just less than 4 acres. Westwind still needs final approvals from the city for its plans, Ramani said. Construction likely will take place in June and July, the traditional hiatus period for television. Once the project is complete, the company can then move forward on some others. Those include adding solar power on rooftops and a parking shelter, partnering with Woodbury University on its new media studies program, and moving into content production, Ramani said.