A higher-education institution is expanding into Burbank, California, boosting the tenant base for a city reliant on an entertainment industry that's still facing muted activity.
Concorde Career Colleges, a technical school offering associate degrees in healthcare fields like nursing, dental assisting and surgical technology, plans to relocate its Los Angeles County campus from North Hollywood to downtown Burbank in spring 2027, after it signed a lease for more than 48,000 square feet at Delray Properties' Aramark Building at 115 N. First St. Burbank officials say it's one of the city’s biggest leases in years.
“Concorde will bring hundreds of students, faculty and staff into our downtown economy and we look forward to this strengthening and expanding our healthcare sector for years to come,” City of Burbank Mayor Nikki Perez said in a statement.
Concorde has operated in greater Los Angeles for nearly four decades and now educates roughly 560 students countywide. The relocation from a 35,000-square-foot space at 12412 Victory Blvd. will allow the school to expand its programs, add disciplines including nursing and allied health, and eventually increase student capacity to about 800.
“This larger, more modern space in Burbank, with its thriving healthcare sector, will allow us to serve up to 45% more students," said a statement from Kevin Prehn, division president of Concorde Career Colleges.
Burbank's office vacancy has surged to around 20% after major entertainment users shed space following the 2023 actors' and writers' strikes. Office tenants vacated 96,000 more square feet of space than they moved to over the past year, according to CoStar data.
Looming city changes
Hollywood is facing muted production demand, with soundstage occupancy in Los Angeles falling to 63% this year, down from more than 90% before the pandemic and the labor strikes.
Burbank, a few miles northeast of Hollywood and known as the Media Capital of the World, is home to Warner Bros. Studios, a company that controls about 3 million square feet in the city.
A proposed $82 billion sale to Netflix would consolidate Warner Brothers' 30-plus soundstages and office campuses under one operator, a move brokers say could reduce leased space needs and add new uncertainty to the market.
Still, Burbank remains one of the most desirable hubs for media, postproduction and creative office users, and the Concorde lease adds a rare boost of non-entertainment demand.
The city’s apartment market is stronger than that of many other LA County neighborhoods, according to CoStar data, driven by entertainment workers who live in the area.