A famed space is set for a lot of changes

Paramount Skydance plans to redevelop its historic Hollywood studio as it consolidates the vast Warner Bros. and Paramount real estate empires.

- By Roger Vincent

THE WARNER BROS. STUDIOS water tower in Burbank. Many famous movies and television series have been filmed on the site.

(Eric Thayer Los Angeles Times)

With Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. expected to saddle the combined company with $79 billion in debt, Paramount executives are looking to do away with redundant assets including real estate — and there is a lot of that.

Chief in the public's imagination are their historic studios in Burbank and Hollywood, where legendary films and television show have been made for generations and continue to operate year-round.

"Both of these studios are in the core [30-mile zone,] the inner circle of where Hollywood talent wants to be," entertainment property broker Nicole Mihalka of CBRE said. "It's very prime real estate."

When Sony and Apollo were bidding for Paramount in early 2024, their plan was to sell the Paramount property, but there is no indication that Paramount would part with its namesake lot.

For now, Paramount's plan is to keep both studios operating with each studio releasing about 15 films a year, but the goal is to eventually consolidate most of the studio operations around the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank in order to eliminate redundancies with the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue, people close to Chief Executive David Ellison said.

Paramount would not look to raze its celebrated studio lot — the oldest operating film studio in Los Angeles — because of various restrictions on historic buildings there. Paramount also has a relatively new post-production facility on site and will probably need the studio space.