Sony Animation Inks 225K SF Lease In Onni's Wilshire Courtyard

Sony Pictures Animation’s lease in Culver City expires next year, but the company won’t renew. 

Instead, it will move to Miracle Mile, where Sony has inked a long-term, four-floor lease for 225K SF in Onni Group’s Wilshire Courtyard. 

SPA’s lease expires in May 2024, but it will relocate to its new space in April 2024, according to a memo from Sony Pictures Entertainment Executive Vice President Craig Schwartz reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

The animation studio, along with digital effects firm Imageworks and anime streaming service Crunchyroll, will take up space at 5750 Wilshire Blvd., one of the two six-story office buildings that make up the property. 

“The space will accommodate SPE’s businesses across four-stacked floors, providing increased proximity that encourages collaboration and improves connectivity,” the memo says. “There will be a central dining area, a coffee bar private to SPE companies, a new state-of-the-art theater, and plenty of both private and public outdoor spaces with communal seating throughout the campus.”

In the memo, which Bisnow obtained, Schwartz says that the company’s thorough search for new office space was narrowed by looking at employee ZIP codes and finding a central location for the employee population. 

Sony Pictures Animation has been at its Culver City home for over two decades. The property was purchased in 2021 by Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital. 

Onni bought the Wilshire Courtyard complex in 2019, landing WeWork as a tenant almost immediately, The Real Deal reported at the time. The coworking company signed on for four floors at 5750 Wilshire Blvd. It isn't clear if these are the same four floors that Sony will now occupy. Representatives for Cushman & Wakefield didn't respond to requests for comment on the matter. 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Josh Bernstein, Peter Collins, Scott Menkus and Alexa Delahooke represented Onni Group in the lease transaction. Onni’s Neal Linthicum managed the transaction for the landlord, while Savills’ Josh Gorin and Mike Catalano represented Sony.

Rios is spearheading the interior design of the new office, and LPC West is managing the transition project, according to the Sony memo.