Forensic Cadastre · Corporate Control · Municipal Finance

The Media Capital's Corporate Spine: Cadastral & Financial Breakdown of 2300 W Empire Ave and the 1- & 2-Mile Radii

A comprehensive forensic investigation into the economic epicenter of 2300 W Empire Avenue: auditing 6,422 secured parcels holding $6.250 Billion in the 1-mile buffer and 20,670 parcels holding $18.602 Billion across the 2-mile regional radius, unmasking corporate ownership from New York Life and Netflix Animation to Cast & Crew, Prospect Ridge, and Zelman Development, and analyzing the 31.7x to 61.0x Proposition 13 land assessment chasm across Burbank's media and retail heavy engine.

I. Executive Summary & Spatial Orientation

Rising seven stories above the southern perimeter of the Golden State industrial corridor, 2300 W Empire Avenue, Burbank, CA 91504 sits at the operational crossroads of global streaming production, entertainment payroll software, and institutional Wall Street capital. Known commercially as the Empire Center Office Tower, the property is vested in REEP OFC 2300 EMPIRE LLC—an institutional single-purpose vehicle managed by New York Life Real Estate Investors (the real estate investment arm of New York Life Insurance Company, America's largest mutual life insurer with over $700 Billion in assets under management).

Acquired by New York Life in 2017 for $133.2 Million, the 2300 W Empire Ave campus comprises three secured parcels totaling 765,842 square feet of Class A commercial office space and structured parking across 6.46 acres, carrying a combined 2025/2026 assessed roll valuation of $154,149,704.00 ($154.15 Million).

The building is internationally recognized as the home of Netflix Animation Studios, which leased 171,000 square feet across the upper floors in 2020 to establish its primary global feature animation headquarters (producing Oscar-winning landmarks such as Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio), and the world headquarters of Cast & Crew Entertainment Services (backed by global private equity giant EQT AB), which administers over $20 Billion in annual film, television, and guild payroll.

II. 1-Mile vs. 2-Mile Spatial Cadastral Comparison

A mathematical Euclidean radius calculation centered at the 2300 W Empire Ave centroid (X: 6460272.35, Y: 1892221.34 · 34.191845° N, -118.331620° W) illustrates the dramatic expansion of municipal wealth and land use from the airport industrial belt to the downtown civic core:

III. Cadastral Specification: The 2300 W Empire Ave Campus

IV. Top 20 Commercial, Studio & Retail Landowners Across the Corridor

V. Corporate Control & Beneficial Ownership Profiles

1. New York Life Insurance Company & New York Life Real Estate Investors

Operating under the single-purpose entity REEP OFC 2300 EMPIRE LLC, New York Life Real Estate Investors represents the real estate equity and debt division of New York Life Insurance Company. Founded in 1845, New York Life is America's largest mutual life insurer (#72 on the Fortune 500) with over $700 Billion in consolidated assets under management. Its real estate group manages a commercial portfolio exceeding $65 Billion. Acquired in 2017 for $133.2 Million, the 2300 W Empire Ave campus provides core yield backed by long-term corporate credit leases.

2. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) - Global Animation Headquarters

Streaming entertainment giant Netflix, Inc. (market capitalization ~$330 Billion, led by Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters) leased 171,000 square feet at 2300 W Empire Ave in 2020. The facility serves as the worldwide creative nerve center for Netflix Feature Animation, housing over 600 animators, story artists, and digital visual effects specialists responsible for critically acclaimed and Academy Award-winning theatrical features including Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio and The Sea Beast.

3. EQT AB & Cast & Crew Entertainment Services

Occupying over 100,000 square feet at 2300 W Empire Ave is the world headquarters of Cast & Crew Entertainment Services. Controlled by Swedish private equity titan EQT AB (Stockholm: EQT, managing €240B+ in global assets, led by CEO Christian Sinding), Cast & Crew is the undisputed market leader in entertainment payroll, residual management, and digital production management software (operating industry-standard platforms including Final Draft, Media Services, and CAPS Payroll). Cast & Crew processes over $20 Billion in payroll and union pension contributions annually.

4. Prospect Ridge Advisors & Align Real Estate (2350 & 2400 W Empire Ave)

Immediately adjacent to the west, Prospect Ridge Advisors (spun out from AllianceBernstein, managing $3B+ in real estate equity) partnered with Align Real Estate under the entity PR ALIGN EMPIRE LLC to purchase the 234,000-square-foot Empire Center Phase II office campus from UBS Realty Investors in 2022 for $106.6 Million (carrying a 2025 roll valuation of $112.42 Million across 3 parcels).

5. Zelman Development Company (Burbank Empire Center)

Anchoring the southern corridor, Zelman Development Company (led by Justin Zelman) controls 49.8 acres and 1,492,260 square feet of prime retail space assessed at $209,375,282.00. Anchored by Costco, Target, Lowe's, and Best Buy, the power center generates an estimated $500M+ in gross retail sales, funneling between $5.0 Million and $7.0 Million annually in municipal sales tax revenue into Burbank's General Fund.

VI. Structured Executive Master Table

VII. Environmental History: Lockheed Plant B-1 Superfund Cleanup

The land occupied by 2300 W Empire Ave and the adjacent retail power center constitutes the historic ground-zero of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's Plant B-1. From 1928 through 1991, Plant B-1 served as the primary assembly, flight test line, and sub-assembly manufacturing hub for thousands of military aircraft, including the P-38 Lightning, PV-1 Ventura, and P-3 Orion.

Decades of heavy solvent vapor degreasing and paint stripping contaminated local soil and groundwater with chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), principally trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). Under U.S. EPA oversight (San Fernando Valley Area 1 Superfund Site), Lockheed Martin executed a multi-hundred-million-dollar remediation program:

• Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE): Deep vacuum extraction removed volatile chemical vapors from beneath the 103-acre factory floor prior to office and retail grading.
• The Burbank Operable Unit (BOU): Lockheed Martin funded and constructed a massive regional groundwater treatment facility that extracts groundwater from eight deep wells across the area at approximately 9,000 gallons per minute (13 Million gallons per day). Using liquid-phase granular activated carbon (GAC) and air-stripping towers, the plant purifies water to non-detectable solvent levels before delivering it directly to Burbank Water and Power (BWP) for municipal drinking distribution.
• Sub-Slab Vapor Barriers: Foundations at 2300, 2350, and 2400 W Empire Ave incorporate impermeable geomembrane vapor barriers and passive sub-slab venting to eliminate vapor intrusion risks into modern office workspaces.

VIII. Mandatory Financial Audit & Operating Expense Breakdown

IX. Proposition 13 Land Assessment Chasm: 31.7x to 61.0x Divide

An audit of statutory Proposition 13 base years across both spatial buffer zones demonstrates the extreme tax disparity separating long-term landholders from post-2020 buyers:

The 61.0-to-1 Regional Disparity: Across the 2-mile buffer, properties reassessed during the 2020–2025 cycle are taxed on land assessed at $68.32 per square foot, compared to just $1.12 per square foot for legacy properties held since 1975. This multi-decade tax insulation shields over $3.2 Billion in taxable land valuation from the City of Burbank and Los Angeles County tax rolls.

X. Regional Transit & Infrastructure Assets

• Metrolink Burbank Airport-South Station: Situated directly opposite 2300 W Empire Ave across the rail right-of-way, providing direct commuter rail access along the Ventura County Line into Los Angeles Union Station (20-minute direct transit).
• Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) & "Elevate BUR": Positioned 0.75 miles northwest, providing regional commercial aviation links and immediate adjacency to the upcoming $1.2 Billion replacement passenger terminal.
• Empire Avenue / I-5 Freeway Interchange: Completed as part of Caltrans' $355M I-5 North County corridor improvements, providing direct grade-separated highway access to Downtown Los Angeles and the Golden State industrial basin.

XI. Public Records & Open Access Resources

• Open Public CSV Datasets: /downloads/empire-corridor-1mile-parcels.csv (1-Mile Cadastre, 6,422 Parcels) · /downloads/empire-corridor-2mile-parcels.csv (2-Mile Cadastre, 20,670 Parcels)
• City of Burbank ArcGIS Public Landbase: APN 2462-001-011 · Layer 17 Public Landbase · gis.burbankca.gov
• SEC EDGAR Corporate Filings: Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) · Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE: APLE) · Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) · EQT AB Corporate Disclosures
• U.S. EPA Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS): San Fernando Valley Area 1 / Burbank Operable Unit (Site ID: CAD980894893)