L.A.'s Historic CBS Campus Will Undergo Billion-Dollar Expansion

The iconic CBS Television City studio campus in Los Angeles "will be subject to a major expansion and modernization project headed by the L.A.-based multidisciplinary design practice RIOS," according to an announcement by the facility's owners, Hackman Capital Partners. "The plan calls for redeveloping a sea of surface parking lots on the perimeter of Television City into 1.1 million square feet of additional studio and office space, more than doubling the existing 750,000 square feet of available space at the complex," writes Matt Hickman in The Architect's Newspaper. "The complex will gain 15 new soundstages, support facilities and production base camps, a new commissary, a multi-modal mobility hub, public realm and pedestrian/streetscape upgrades, and a 'robust transportation demand management program.'"

The original plan for the campus, designed by architects William Pereira and Charles Luckman as "the first purpose-built television studio" and completed in 1952, "focused on flexibility and adaptability, calling for the eventual relocation, adaptation, and development of 24 stages and 2.5 million square feet of production space." Bob Hale, creative director of RIOS, said in a statement that the new plan "realizes Pereira’s futuristic vision, allowing the studio to accommodate evolving technologies, sustainable infrastructure, and enhanced community and production experiences." Once complete, the project is also expected to bring "nearly 19,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs" to the area, according to a study by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.