BURBANK : Building Begins on Entertainment Site

Construction began this week on a 120,000-square-foot retail and entertainment complex near the Media City Center shopping mall in Burbank that will include a Virgin Megastore, a Barnes & Noble bookstore and a six-screen movie theater.

Situated near the intersection of Burbank Boulevard and the Golden State Freeway, the project is on land once reserved for a hotel and office building as part of the city’s long-term plan for downtown.

The music-selling Virgin Megastore, Barnes & Noble and AMC movie theater are expected to open by Christmas, according to a spokesman for the developer, Alexander Haagen. The theater will be the third in downtown Burbank, which already has the AMC Burbank 14 and the AMC Media Center 4 theaters. The Virgin Megastore will be one of 30 in the United States.

With the new complex and nearby properties such as Ikea and Circuit City, the Media City Center will include 1.4 million square feet of retail space.

“It’s a great addition,” said the mall’s general manager, Daniel Millman. “It takes us into the entertainment-retail orientation that downtown Burbank is becoming known for throughout the Valley.”

Other tenants--so far unnamed--are expected to open for business in the complex next spring.