Nader Shah, senior vice president with Higgins Development, tells GlobeSt.com that the firm chose the Burbank site for a number of reasons, among them the continuing demand for office space that has made Burbank and Pasadena "probably two of the strongest markets in the region." He cites an office vacancy rate in 3% range in the area.

Shah tells GlobeSt.com that Higgins was already looking for development opportunities in the Burbank-Pasadena area when the 2300 Empire site became available. The property is part of a 106-acre former Lockheed aerospace facility that has since been redeveloped into a number of uses, including retail and office.

Higgins will develop the project, which will be designed by Ware Malcomb, in a venture with equity partner Walton Street Capital LLC. The developers expect to begin construction late this year, with completion approximately 12 to 14 months later.

The 50,000-sf floorplates of the Higgins building will be larger than those of most office developments in the area, where floorplates typically range from about 20,000 sf to 40,000 sf. Shah says that the larger floorplates will accommodate larger users that need the extra space, but the 2300 Empire building will be designed so that the floors can easily be demised into smaller spaces.

Although the project is in the Media District, Higgins expects that tenants in the new building will include a wide range of types of businesses, both in and outside of the media industry. CB Richard Ellis has the listing for the project, with leasing to be handled by Patrick Church and Anneke Greco of CBRE's L.A. North office in Universal City.