Disney Plans to Put $600 Million Into Burbank Expansion

Walt Disney Co. unveiled plans Tuesday for a $600-million expansion of its Burbank headquarters that executives said will re-establish the “college-type” creative atmosphere envisioned by its cartoonist founder.

The planned development--all of which would take place on the company’s current 44-acre lot--must be approved by the Burbank City Council. It would include four to six advanced sound stages, an employee center, a casting building, production facilities and a creative arts center, executives said.

Alan Epstein, vice president of Disney Development Co., said the studio was in “desperate need” of new production facilities because of its increased output of television programs and films, which rose from two feature films in 1984 to 17 in 1990. He said Disney now has only five sound stages, while other studios, such as 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., have at least 23.

In addition, the company wanted a central location for its Burbank administrative and creative operations, which are now spread throughout 12 buildings in the San Fernando Valley and Glendale, he said.

The centralization of the Disney operation would create for employees a “collaborative work environment like a college campus,” Epstein said. “It’s that kind of open campus that Walt wanted, where creative people can come together and exchange ideas.”

The cartoonist creator of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck established the Disney headquarters on its current Burbank site in 1941.

Epstein said Disney would also institute a variety of transportation plans and traffic improvements around the property to reduce congestion. Landscaping and other buffers would help shield the lot and the expansion from surrounding streets, he said.

The Disney complex is located in Burbank’s Media District, an area that is also headquarters to several other major studios, including Warner Bros. and NBC.

Because the expansion will take place on Disney’s lot, and does not include high-rise buildings, it is not expected to generate the sort of intense controversy that has arisen over a proposed Disney theme park and resort in Long Beach. Long Beach residents have voiced concerns about the impact of the proposed $3-billion waterfront project on port traffic and freeway and street congestion.

Disney executives next week are launching a series of community meetings in Burbank to discuss the expansion proposal with residents and to hear their response. Epstein said the expansion plans take into account community concerns already expressed at City Council hearings about future development in the Media District.

The plan is the first specific expansion proposal announced by a studio since the City Council last year approved a sweeping growth-control plan for the area. The Media District Specific Plan restricts development in the area in order to protect residential neighborhoods from increasing growth generated by industries in the district.

Epstein said Disney is “fully prepared to live within the framework of the plan.”

He said the company hoped to have the expansion approved by the council within a year, with construction on the sound stages to start as early as 1993.

City Manager Bud Ovrom said Disney had not formally filed the plan with the city, “but we have seen it evolve over time. We will evaluate it when it comes to us.”