$2-Bil Disney Project Blessed By Burbank City Fathers; Residents Say They'll Oppose It

LOS ANGELES-Walt Disney Co. has received unanimous approval from the Glendale City Council for its 125-acre, $2-billion mixed-use project, known as the Grand Central Creative Campus, to be built in the 750-acre San Fernando Redevelopment Corridor.

Plans call for the site, which is near the intersection of Interstate 5 and Ventura Freeway, to be transformed from its current industrial use into a mixed-use development that will house Disney’s Imagineering Division. The project, which would total nearly six million sf, would also include a visitor’s center, which will be located in the former Grand Central Air Terminal.

The city estimates that more than 7,000 new jobs will be created as a result of the project. Officials also expect that the complex will encourage increased development of the San Fernando Redevelopment Corridor.

Despite the City Council’s approval, the Disney project still faces some hurdles. Some residents have threatened lawsuits over the development’s impact on traffic and noise levels. Others have raised questions about potentially dangerous chemicals that may be buried on the site, which was declared a Superfund cleanup spot in 1986.