MTV Expands in $43M Renewal

SANTA MONICA, CA-The MTV music video cable channel has signed a 10-year deal with landlord Prudential Real Estate Investors for 128,000 sf that includes an expansion of 22,000 sf, according to Hunt Barnett and Rick Buckley of Madison Partners, who represented the landlord. The space is at Prudential’s 2600 and 2800 Colorado Ave. buildings, a project that was built in two phases and totals 300,000 sf. Barnett tells GlobeSt.com that MTV, which has been in the Colorado Avenue buildings since 1996, was previously under a 10-year lease that was due to expire in late 2006. “What we did was an early renewal and expansion that left the existing lease in place and added on the 22,000 sf,” Barnett says.A combination of factors prompted MTV to renew early, according to Barnett. He says the company wanted to take advantage of a rare opportunity to occupy more space at the Colorado Avenue project, where it needs room to expand, in part because parent Viacom has been moving some employees to Santa Monica from New York. But little space has been available at the project in recent years because the 300,000 sf has long been 100% leased. “The building is a bit unusual in that we have only about five tenants filling all 300,000 sf,” Barnett says. Also, as large tenants tend to do, Barnett says MTV looked at its lease long before the expiration date in order to plan well in advance.MTV, which is a unit of New York City-based Viacom Inc., is one of a host of entertainment firms that have offices in Santa Monica and other Westside Los Angeles office markets. Buckley calls MTV “a mainstay” of this group and says the new deal helps Santa Monica cement its reputation as a center of entertainment tenants. MTV was represented by Brad Feld of Cushman & Wakefield.