Lockheed selling ‘A-1’ land

Paul Clinton

MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH -- The final piece of Lockheed-Martin Corp.’s

sprawling Burbank property is on the market and may be soon be sold,

company officials said.

When Lockheed completes negotiations to sell its “A-1 North” property,

the era of the aerospace giant’s landowning empire in Burbank will come

to an end.

Part of the A-1 site, a 31-acre parcel adjacent to Burbank Airport,

was the firm’s headquarters until the early 1990s when Lockheed pulled up

stakes.

Lockheed officials on Tuesday confirmed they are negotiating to sell

the site, which was primarily used to design, manufacture and assemble

aircraft. Thirteen developers, including Los Angeles-based Zelman

Development Companies, have expressed interest in acquiring the property.

“We’re in discussions with Zelman but there’s no sale,” Rymer said.

“We’re several weeks away.”

Rymer would not say whether Lockheed was negotiating exclusively with

Zelman nor how much the company is asking for the land. Zelman President

Ben Reiling did not return a call for comment.

In March, Zelman agreed to buy Lockheed’s 103-acre “B-1” property for

$69 million. The firm has plans to build a $200-million retail center at

the Empire Avenue-and-Buena Vista Street site.

Lockheed has also agreed to sell its 130-acre “B-6” site, at Hollywood

Way and San Fernando Boulevard, to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport

Authority for a 14-gate, 330,000-square-foot replacement airline

terminal. The authority has paid more than $100 million for the land.

It remains unclear how Reiling would use the property if he is

successful in his bid, but City Manager Bud Ovrom said the site’s

1.8-million square feet of buildings would likely be razed.

“They’ll all be scrapped,” Ovrom said. “These are World War II vintage

manufacturing buildings. They’re economically obsolete.”

Lockheed used A-1 from 1941 to 1992. The property is zoned for light

manufacturing, laboratory and office uses.

In a matter of months, Zelman has taken central stage in Burbank’s

economic future. Despite a failed bid to buy the Media City Center -- a

deal that fell apart in early November -- Zelman has been aggressively

pursuing land deals in the city during the past year.

“Zelman goes from someone we’ve never heard of to the biggest guy in

town,” Ovrom said. “Almost overnight, (Reiling) has become the biggest

developer in Burbank.”