The REX Effect: How Kilroy Realty Closed the Experience Gap at Columbia Square, Hollywood
How Kilroy transformed a broadcasting legend into Hollywood's modern creative campus
Vision
In 1938, CBS Columbia Square opened as the most technologically advanced broadcast facility in the world. For seven decades, it served as the beating heart of entertainment—where Hollywood cemented its place as the center of the creative universe. But by 2007, CBS had abandoned the 4.7-acre site, leaving Hollywood's most storied campus dormant.
Where others saw decay, Kilroy Realty saw destiny, and executed one of Hollywood's most celebrated transformations through pure vision and significant capital investment. But here's what the Columbia Square success story doesn't tell you: this level of transformation required years of custom design, heavy financial commitments, and deep expertise that's difficult to replicate across an entire portfolio.
While Kilroy proved experience-driven design commands premium rents and tenant loyalty, the question facing forward-thinking landlords isn't whether to transform—it's how to do it systematically, measurably, and efficiently at scale. That's where the REX methodology comes in.
Market & Ideal Tenants
Located at Sunset and Gower, Hollywood's first movie studio site dating to 1911, Columbia Square sits at the epicenter of the entertainment industry's renaissance. As streaming reshaped media and hybrid work redefined offices, creative companies needed more than desks. They needed environments that inspire collaboration, reflect their brand, and attract the talent that makes entertainment magic.
When Columbia Square came to market, Hollywood's creative office landscape was evolving. By 2024, Class A office space in Hollywood averaged $47.97 per square foot, with Hollywood creative office rents reaching parity with Santa Monica. Over 12 months ending in 2024, buyers in Hollywood pushed deal volume up nearly 125% compared to 2023, signaling renewed confidence in the submarket. The message was clear: companies would invest in spaces that matched their creative ambitions.
Kilroy defined precise personas who would thrive in a campus environment, instead of building for a generic “media tenant”:
- Who they are: Entertainment networks, production companies, creative agencies, music brands, and tech firms serving the content industry—teams that value collaboration, culture, and creative expression
- What drives them: Proximity to industry talent pools, flexible spaces that adapt to production workflows, authentic Hollywood character, and amenities that support creative lifestyles
- Where they spend time: Rooftop terraces overlooking Hollywood Hills, pocket parks and plazas for impromptu meetings, curated restaurants and coffee shops, collaborative studios, and residential units steps from work
- Pain points they face: Generic suburban offices disconnected from Hollywood's energy, lack of production-friendly infrastructure, limited food options, and separation between work and the creative community
By understanding these personas deeply, Kilroy designed a campus that functions like the studio lots entertainment companies know, but that is elevated for modern creative work.
Closing the Experience Gap
Kilroy executed their transformation using a campus-integrated approach that turned historic preservation into a competitive advantage:
| Spaces & Products | Abandoned CBS broadcast facility and surrounding structures | 469,693 Square Foot campus: 350,000 square feet Class A office, 80,000 square feet historic studios, 30,000 square feet retail, 200-unit residential tower, pocket parks |
| Services | Vacant property | Campus hospitality, cross-building amenity access, rooftop terraces, fitness center, ground-floor dining, valet parking, flexible lease terms for production tenants |
| Systems & Tech | 1930s broadcast infrastructure | Modern building systems: LEED Gold, 13'-20' ceilings with floor-to-ceiling glass, smart HVAC/access control, dual-core "building within building" flexibility, smart building analytics |
Each decision honored Columbia Square's legacy while meeting modern creative needs. For example:
- Studio BC preservation showcased original CBS bow-trusses as sculptural elements, creating authentic character impossible to replicate, while delivering flexible 10,000 square feet of creative office space
- NeueHouse partnership in the historic Radio Building brought 93,000 square feet of curated coworking with sound stages, five-star dining, and collaboration spaces for the creative class
- Campus configuration with multiple buildings, outdoor spaces, and mixed-use programming mimicked studio lot dynamics where creative teams naturally intersect
The result is more than a building; it's a creative ecosystem that makes Hollywood feel like Hollywood again.
Kilroy spent years in custom design and development, partnering with specialized architects, negotiating complex historic preservation requirements, and building bespoke tenant engagement strategies from the ground up. Brilliant execution, significant investment—but without transferable playbooks or technology infrastructure to deploy this across a portfolio efficiently.
The Experience Payoff
Columbia Square holds LEED Gold, Fitwel, WELL Health-Safety, and BOMA 360 certifications, and won the 2024 TOBY Award, cementing its status as a best-in-class creative campus.
Campus-integrated design and persona-driven programming delivered exceptional results:
- 95% leased by the end of 2016, just months after completion, demonstrating high demand for experiential creative offices
- Anchor tenant success with Viacom, consolidating 210,000 square feet across MTV, Comedy Central, BET, VH1, and Spike TV from scattered LA locations
- Premium rental performance, achieving approximately $60 per square foot, which is significantly above Hollywood's Class A average, while competitors struggled with vacancy
- Catalyst for Hollywood revitalization, bringing 700+ quality jobs back to the neighborhood and anchoring the district's renaissance
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti called it "a sterling example of the surging investment happening in Hollywood". The project proved that experience-driven design could reverse Hollywood's decades-long exodus from the entertainment industry.
Every element, from the preserved 1938 facades to the rooftop pool overlooking the Hollywood Sign, ties back to understanding how creative teams actually work. This is the REX thesis in action: when spaces, services, and systems align around tenant personas, you don't just fill buildings, you create destinations that drive business outcomes.
Voices of the Experience
"This is the largest lease to be signed in Hollywood in the last ten years. The decision by one of the giants in the entertainment industry to relocate the West Coast operations of some of its most popular networks and consolidate them at Columbia Square further demonstrates that office environments matter. This is a bellwether event for both Columbia Square and the ongoing rebirth of Hollywood." — David Simon, Kilroy Realty Executive Vice President
Experience Lessons Learned
- Heritage drives differentiation. The preserved CBS studios weren't an obstacle; they were an asset. Authentic Hollywood character became the competitive edge that generic towers couldn't replicate.
- Think campus, not building. Multiple structures, outdoor spaces, mixed-use programming, and residential integration created the studio lot dynamic that creative tenants instinctively understand.
- Flexibility attracts creative tenants. From dual-core buildings enabling private "building within a building" configurations to short-term lease options for production companies, adaptability matched how entertainment works.
- Amenities are community builders. Shared rooftops, pocket parks, and curated F&B created collision points where Viacom teams might brainstorm with NeueHouse members—the creative serendipity that defines Hollywood.
This is the REX Effect. When you design around how creative teams collaborate, celebrate, and create, you don't just lease space; you become the setting where the next generation of entertainment is born. In an industry facing production challenges, Columbia Square proved that experience-driven environments win premium tenants at premium economics.
The REX Advantage
The Columbia Square transformation proves that experience-driven design wins in competitive markets. But imagine achieving similar results with:
- Playbook-driven efficiency: REX's Ideal Tenant Profile Template, Journey Mapping, and Health Score Tracker systematize what Kilroy developed through trial and investment
- Portfolio-level consistency: Deploy proven experience strategies across 20+ assets without starting from scratch each time
- Data-driven optimization: Real-time tenant engagement analytics prove ROI to investors and guide continuous improvement
While Kilroy intuitively understood experience gaps at Columbia Square, REX provides the methodology and platform to close experience gaps systematically across entire portfolios—turning pioneering one-off transformations into repeatable competitive advantage.
The question isn't whether experience matters. It's whether you can deliver it at portfolio scale before your competitors do.