Company expands its offices into a pair of buildings on Brand Boulevard.
DOWNTOWN — With a growing need for office space in the entertainment industry, Glendale’s Hollywood Production Center has acquired two new buildings to accommodate its growth and expand its services.
Hollywood Production, located on the northeast corner of Lexington Drive and Orange Street for about a year and a half, is expanding into adjacent buildings at 401 and 413 N. Brand Blvd.
“We rent out office space only for people in the entertainment industry,” General Manager Lucy Mardonovich said. “Since we’ve opened, we’ve seen a lot of interest in Glendale from the industry.”
The company provides office space for industry tenants, and amenities such as a gym, car wash, private kitchens and other accommodations.
The expansion is a good sign, Glendale City Councilman Dave Weaver said.
“I think it’s great that they’re expanding,” Weaver said. “Their client base is excellent and steady. I do not think it’s an industry that’s declining. With them, we have tenants in buildings in Glendale that are going to be around for a while.”
The company’s more than 40 tenants include E!, Cartoon Network and iCandy TV.
At a mixer held at the center on Thursday night, members of the local entertainment industry came out to mingle and meet one another. While there, some spoke on the increasing need for facilities like those Hollywood Production center provides.
“There’s not a better place than Hollywood Production Center to have your production office,” said Laurz Segal, a production manager with Ricochet Television. “So much of television is reality-based nowadays that people don’t need stages, they need production space.”
It is perhaps the need for these services in the entertainment industry, as well as the center’s accessible location in downtown Glendale, that has attracted the industry to Glendale, some said.
Rahim Amidi, founding general partner of the Amidi Group, which owns the properties that the center is moving into, as well as several other working projects in Glendale, was pleasantly surprised with the success of the business.
“When we started here it was a new concept to have the entertainment business in Glendale,” he said. “We always thought it would do well, but this was better than we thought.”
As people mingled and socialized at Thursday’s mixer, many commended the environment that the center provides and said it greatly contributed to the growing success.
Tony Clark, a magic consultant for films and producer of magic shows, said it was the center’s ability to serve the needs of the Hollywood community that added to its appeal.
“They really cater to their people,” he said. “Lucy’s great. She brings a good energy to the location.”
