Apartments often have laundry rooms, storage areas and lobbies. This new building in one of Southern California's entertainment hubs is trying to lure media production professionals with a green screen studio, movie screening rooms, podcast production space and areas for professional makeup artists.
LaTerra Development is readying the 573-unit multifamily part of the seven-acre Intro mixed-use complex in Burbank — a nucleus for the production industry located seven miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles — for residents to move in this summer.
The project, the sixth largest underway in greater Los Angeles and the biggest in Burbank, will have an estimated value of $500 million, according to Chris Tourtellotte, managing director of Los Angeles-based LaTerra Development, which purchased the former industrial site in 2017.
Burbank, home to such media giants as Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Netflix Animation and Cartoon Network, is facing a housing shortage that has contributed to the city's status as a ghost town at night when workers go home.
The Intro is the first large-scale multifamily complex to be approved in Burbank in 20 years, Tourtellotte said.
The property aims to appeal to entertainment industry workers with amenities like content labs and screening rooms, Tourtellotte said, where residents can work from home or develop their hobbies.
The project has names that fit in with the amenities. A 257-unit building called The Actor will open in May and a 316-unit building called The Writer will open in July. A third phase including a 307-room hotel aims to open in time for the 2028 Olympics.
Camera-friendly spaces
Los Angeles has become a hub for influencers and social media celebrities as much as traditional A-listers like movie and TV stars.
Despite a global downturn in entertainment media production since the pandemic, aspiring entertainers often still consider see Los Angeles as a beacon. A doubling of statewide tax breaks for film-and-television production is expected to help reverse the decline in production activity when it kicks in as expected this summer.
The Intro aims to appeal to this audience with a mid-century interior design and camera-friendly public spaces where residents can create content for their social media accounts and socialize.
One example is a rooftop swim club that's fit for Instagram with five bodies of water, from a pool with built-in sunning chairs to spas.
The deck also features an outdoor BBQ and lounge with cabanas and two fitness areas surrounded by views of the region's famous hills.
Because the swim club is on top of the property's concrete parking deck, the developers were able to indulge in water features that would be too heavy for a traditional roof.
"This will be the coolest roof deck in the country on a wood frame building," Tourtellotte said.
Media worker-friendly amenities include individual rooms for the podcast production, green screen filming and writing, as well as a movie theater with concessions and "get ready rooms" for professional salon and makeup services.
Other amenities include a wading pool for families, a dog park and spa, and coworking rooms.
Media city
The number of new multifamily properties under construction across greater Los Angeles is down by 19% year over year and the vacancy rate has tightened to 4.8% from 5% a year ago, according to CoStar data.
Burbank, meanwhile, has one of the highest jobs to housing ratios of any city in the country, with 165,000 jobs but only 45,000 households. Los Angeles has about 1.2 jobs for every household, according to Tourtellotte. The units under construction at Intro make up the bulk of the 619 units underway across the city, according to CoStar data.
"The size of the city doubles during the day," Tourtellotte said. "Everybody drives in and works."
And those jobs are high-paying ones. In 2022, Burbank's median household income was $91,455, while Los Angeles' was $76,244, according to Census data.
One of the largest soundstage developments in the country is underway in Burbank at the 30-acre Warner Brothers Ranch Lot. Worthe Real Estate Group is building a $500-million, 926,000-square-foot studio with offices and 16 soundstages. The complex is scheduled to open next year.
Intro is part of Burbank's efforts to facilitate more housing development downtown to meet California housing goals. The second phase of the 325-unit First Street Village opened in December nearby, and both phases have leased up quickly, according to city officials.