Burbank in New Bid for Fox Studios : Redevelopment: City officials renew efforts to attract the entertainment complex. Fox executives say they are frustrated by delays in expansion of West L.A. headquarters.

Burbank city officials began a new campaign Friday to woo Fox Studios to their city after hearing that studio executives are frustrated with plans to expand their West Los Angeles headquarters.

The city’s desire to lure Fox is not new. Two years ago, Fox executives toured a site in Burbank but put off plans to move, instead focusing on an attempt to expand their existing facility.

Recently, however, Burbank City Manager Robert Ovrom noticed media reports of Fox’s difficulties in getting permission to expand its studios on Pico Boulevard and Motor Avenue.

So Ovrom faxed Fox executives a series of letters Friday extolling the city “as a great place for expansion.” Disney, Warner Bros. and NBC are already in Burbank, as well as many production companies, casting agencies and entertainment-related businesses.

“Sure, you have things in Hollywood, West L.A. and Culver City,” Ovrom said. “But most of the real industry is here.”

Fox Senior Vice President David Handelman said the company would be interested.

“We’re all ears,” he said. “We haven’t reviewed Burbank’s proposal, but we’re ready to talk to them. . . . We know they’re serious players.”

The studio has grown frustrated in its efforts to win approval from the city of Los Angeles to expand its Pico Boulevard facility, Handelman said. The company wants to relocate two other operations at the Pico Boulevard site--its corporate headquarters now in Century City and the KTTV television station in Hollywood.

Handelman said Fox also would like to expand its outdated studios, where television shows such as “The Simpsons” and “In Living Color” are produced.

“We would very much like to stay here. We’re willing to maintain our existing buildings. Even after we expand, this would still be a very low-rise campus,” Handelman said.

Fox television grew rapidly in the 1980s after it was purchased by Rupert Murdoch, establishing itself as a fourth broadcast network. This fall, it began offering five nights of prime-time programming each week.

Handelman said the studio spent nearly $2 billion last year in salaries and in payments to vendors. Fox employs about 2,200 people and will increase its staff to 4,700 if it expands or moves to a larger location, Handelman said.

Burbank’s offer comes after a tour by Fox executives of several sites in the Santa Clarita Valley, Handelman said. He declined to give locations.

But officials from Newhall Land and Farming Co. said Friday that they had recently showed Fox executives around sites in the Valencia Industrial Center and the Valencia Commerce Center.

“We have shown them some sites, but there are no formal discussions,” said Carol Maglione, a spokeswoman for Newhall Land. “We’d love to have Fox relocate to Valencia, and we’re ready to help them in any way.”

Handelman said there would be some advantages to moving to Valencia.

But he added that moving to such a relatively remote spot would cause some disruption for Fox employees and subcontractors, 50% of whom live on the Westside. He said about 75% of Fox employees live within 10 miles of the Pico Boulevard site.

Ovrom pointed out that Burbank would not present that problem. The city is less than 20 miles from West Los Angeles.

Ovrom said a possible site would be an 8.3-acre parcel at Burbank Boulevard and the Golden State Freeway, which became available earlier this year when Zero Corp. moved to Utah. The site is about a five-minute drive from other studios in Burbank’s Media District.

Ovrom also said the city would expedite the permit approval process as it has for Disney and Warner Bros. in the past.

“We can have them go through the entire approval process in 10 months,” Ovrom said.

Meanwhile, Handelman said, Fox has grown more frustrated with Los Angeles planners.

“Two years ago, we thought we’d have this taken care of. A year ago, we thought we’d have it taken care of. Today, we’re looking at other locations,” Handelman said. “We’re ready to move, and Burbank is a lot closer than Nevada.”