Blackstone, Worthe to Develop Burbank Office Tower

A joint venture between Blackstone Group and Worthe Real Estate Group will develop an office tower totaling 500,000 square feet, according to media reports.The structure will rise in Burbank near the Warner Bros. Entertainment lot, where Worthe Real Estate Group and partner Stockbridge Real Estate Fund are already knee-deep in constructing two buildings as part of the studios’ Second Century project, which will be owned and run by Jeff Worthe’s company.Ground is expected to break on the office tower, which eyes to court entertainment tenants, in 2022.Although overall demand for office space has seen a sharp plunge since the coronavirus outbreak began in March, the tower project anticipates ramped-up demand in Burbank office space post-virus. Netflix signed a big lease in September when it committed to 171,000 square feet at the Burbank Empire Center, where it plans to establish an animation studio.“Content creation is one of our highest conviction themes,” Nadeem Meghji, Blackstone’s head of real estate in the Americas, told the Wall Street Journal. “We’re seeing long-term demand growth.”The Blackstone and Worthe Real Estate alliance originally formed in 2017. To date, the two entities have invested $1.7 billion into 13 buildings and five development parcels.Blackstone has been eager to enter media production and this marks its latest entertainment-related investment. In August, the firm purchased nearly half of Hudson Pacific Properties’ Hollywood studio and office portfolio. Also, Blackstone will expand on the venerable Sunset Gower Studios on Sunset Boulevard with 500,000 more square feet of office and production space.