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“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are making room for another major release to the silver screen this summer in Los Angeles.
Electric car marker Tesla plans to demolish the interior of the former roughly 118,000-square-foot Pacific Theatres at 9201 N. Winnetka Ave. in the Chatsworth neighborhood and convert it into a a delivery hub and service center, according to plans filed with the city of Los Angeles. Tesla’s plans are the latest sign that electric car growth is generating demand across the U.S. for retail that’s fallen out of favor from small buildings to big boxes.
The move arrives as Tesla beefs up its real estate footprint nationwide after a record-breaking second quarter for U.S. electric car sales. Tesla is converting a former Randalls grocery store in The Woodlands, Texas, into a sales and service center. Also in Los Angeles, Tesla is turning a former pizza parlor into a fast-charging station in Hollywood.
Nearly 300,000 new electric cars were sold in the U.S. in the second quarter, and EV sales are expected to grow further in the coming years, according to Cox Automotive. Tesla is the nation’s leading seller of electric vehicles.
Renderings show Tesla would repaint the Chatsworth movie theater’s exterior with black, gray and red colors and adorn the building with Tesla logos and the company name. Tesla is listed as a tenant in the building, according to city of L.A. records. The electric car maker already has a presence in Burbank, Van Nuys, Agoura Hills, Santa Clarita and Santa Monica.
A construction timeline wasn’t known to CoStar News and a representative for Tesla didn’t respond to an emailed request to comment from CoStar News. Pacific Theatres, a Southern California movie theater chain, said it was closing its businesses in April 2021 after COVID-19 decimated ticket sales.
Tesla’s service center and delivery hub come after earlier plans surfaced to demolish the Chatsworth theater to convert it into three industrial buildings totaling 273,000 square feet, according to city of L.A. records.
Larger vacant retail spaces can be difficult to fill, and Los Angeles saw a 13% year over year increase in available space in retail boxes larger than 25,000 square feet, said Rafael De Anda, associate director of market analytics for CoStar Group in the Los Angeles office. So, owners need to think outside of the building’s previous use to find suitable tenants.
“We are seeing alternative uses for larger spaces,” De Anda said.
The western San Fernando Valley retail market has an average market rent of $31.08 per square foot, below the greater L.A. average of $35.63 per square foot, according to CoStar data. The market’s vacancy is 5.3%, near the L.A. average of 5.4%.
Tesla occupies more than 30 million square feet in the U.S., according to CoStar data.
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