A $450-million Hollywood studio stacks soundstages, parking and bungalows in the sky

At a time when news about the pace of film and television production seems to be relentlessly bad, a Hollywood real estate developer is ignoring the headlines and building a brand new studio.Construction is far along on Echelon Studios Hollywood: an old-school movie studio with all the standard features, but stacked in a single building rather than spread out on a sprawling lot.The challenge was to design a 10-acre movie studio for a 5-acre site, architect Andrew Wright of RIOS said. “Everything is crammed as tight as it can possibly go,” he said.Behind the $450-million venture is real estate developer and landlord David Simon, a true believer in Hollywood who came up with the idea of knocking down a former Sears store on Santa Monica Boulevard west of the Hollywood Freeway and building a studio that is set to open early next year. A rendering of Echelon Studios Hollywood being built on Santa Monica Boulevard at St. Andrew’s Place in Hollywood. (Design by RIOS / Rendering by Omegarender) He is a rare optimist in a business that has been struggling.Demand for film facilities in Southern California has sharply fallen as production has dwindled in recent years. In late July, the nonpr...