Extra Space Acquires Self-Storage Facility Converted From Former Rick Baker Special-Effects Studio

Update 9/26/16 – The Extra Space partnership completed its purchase of Baker’s converted special-effects studio upon issuance of the certificate of occupancy. The joint venture acquired the property for $13.8 million, according to a press release issued by Stephen Grossman, vice president of RE/MAX Evolution, who brokered the deal.

Extra Space intends to open the facility this week, Grossman told the source. Grossman also represented Morelli Brothers when the developer purchased the property from Baker in January.

The facility offers units ranging from 6 to 350 square feet, according to a listing on the Extra Space website. The property has 24-hour video-camera monitoring, coded access, elevators and loading docks. Gate hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Sunday.

1/13/16 –The former studio of award-winning Hollywood makeup artist and special-effects guru Rick Baker is being converted into a self-storage facility. The building that once housed Cinovation Studios Inc. was acquired in December 2014 by Morelli Brothers Enterprises LLC for $7.4 million. The company is converting the 54,200-square-foot building at 6527 San Fernando Road in Glendale, Calif., into a 70,000-square-foot storage facility comprising more than 700 units, according to the “SpareFoot Storage Beat,” a self-storage industry blog.

Upon completion, the facility will be sold to a partnership between real estate investment trust Extra Space Storage Inc. and a Northern California investment group, the source reported. Extra Space will manage the property.

Baker, who has won seven Academy Awards and an Emmy Award, is most noted for his alien and monster creations. He earned his first Oscar in 1982 for “An American Werewolf in London.” He also took home Oscars for his work in films including “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Men in Black” and “The Nutty Professor.” The makeup artist held a “garage sale” at the studio in April 2014 at which he sold makeup kits, casts and supplies. An auction of movie props and other items was held offsite last year and included items from films such as “An American Werewolf in London,” “Coming to America,” “Gremlins 2: The New Batch” and “Planet of the Apes,” according to a source.

“I know the word is spreading, so I want to tell you all that I am forced to sell my building that houses Cinovation Studios,” Baker wrote in a 2014 e-mail attributed to him and posted on the forum website for Universal Monster Army. “It has become just too impractical to keep. I am not going out of business; I am not going to die (well, I guess someday, but hopefully not in the near future); but I am downsizing. Probably should have done it years ago.”

A historical listing on the real estate website LoopNet indicates the property had an executive level with a private office and showroom, lower-level parking for 50 cars, and architectural enhancements when it sold. It also included a freight elevator to service the lower and ground-floor levels.