Dhar Mann Studios is planting a permanent flag in the San Fernando Valley with the $23 million purchase of a production campus in Chatsworth.
The content company acquired Crimson Studios at 9640 Owensmouth Avenue property listing, according to an August 6 report from The Real Deal. The 108,375-square-foot property includes five soundstages along with production offices and support space on approximately 3.24 acres.
The sale works out to about $212 per square foot. Dhar Mann Studios plans to leave its leased Burbank campus and move into the Chatsworth property in 2027.
Five soundstages under one roof
Crimson Studios is already configured for film and video production, giving Dhar Mann Studios an operating facility rather than an empty industrial shell.
Marketing materials describe five sound-resistant stages ranging from 4,550 to 10,475 square feet. The campus also has production and post-production facilities, makeup and hair rooms, wardrobe and green rooms, lighting and grip storage, and office and support areas.
The building was constructed in 1978 and renovated in 2018, according to the property's Crexi listing. Industrial features include 22- to 26-foot clear heights, four dock-high doors, a fenced concrete yard, air conditioning throughout and 2,500 amps of power.
The California Film Commission has listed Crimson Studios as an approved production facility, and LA North Studios has marketed the property as one of its partner-stage locations.
Crimson Studios historical gallery
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Historical property photos: I Heart Hollywood — “New Kid in Town: Crimson Studios”.
Property listing gallery
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Listing photos: Crexi and CityFeet.
Street View
Street View: 9640 Owensmouth Avenue, Chatsworth.
From Vidal Sassoon cosmetics plant to production studio
The property’s industrial history predates Crimson Studios by four decades. A new-construction building permit was issued on October 26, 1977. Public property databases generally identify the building as completed in 1978, which likely reflects the difference between the permit date and the year construction was finished.
Vidal Sassoon, Inc. was an early owner-operator of the facility. Federal transportation records from 1979 identify 9640 Owensmouth Avenue as a shipping point for shampoo, hair mist, cosmetics and other beauty products. A 1986 National Conference on Weights and Measures directory still listed Vidal Sassoon at the Chatsworth address.
The plant was part of a larger cluster of hair-care and cosmetics businesses that operated in the western San Fernando Valley, particularly in Chatsworth and Canoga Park. The blog’s earlier feature on Redken Laboratories in Canoga Park documents a nearby parallel: Redken consolidated its offices, manufacturing and research operations at 6625 Variel Avenue before that complex later became Ray-Art Studios.
Over time, cosmetics companies increasingly shifted manufacturing and related business operations away from local Valley plants to facilities elsewhere in the United States and overseas. The precise role of that broader decentralization in Vidal Sassoon’s departure from Chatsworth has not been documented, but the Owensmouth plant’s transition reflects the larger movement of cosmetics manufacturing beyond its earlier local base.
Vidal Sassoon appears to have shut down or left the Owensmouth facility sometime in the 1990s, but an exact closure date has not been located. A 2000 Los Angeles Times real-estate brief reported a new five-year lease for the 94,000-square-foot industrial building, confirming that the property had moved on to another commercial chapter by then.
Newspaper clipping gallery
 |  |  |
Newspaper clippings: Los Angeles Times archive.
A permanent home after years in Burbank
Dhar Mann Studios currently leases about 125,000 square feet at Backlot Burbank near Hollywood Burbank Airport. The company’s original production campus is at 4400 Empire Avenue in Burbank, an address also indexed in some business records as 4400 Vanowen Street. The complex contains dozens of standing sets used to produce the company’s short scripted dramas and other social-media programming.
The Chatsworth purchase shifts the company from tenant to owner. In a statement reported by The Real Deal, Mann said Los Angeles has always been home for the studio and explained that the company wanted a permanent place to make its content.
The move is expected in 2027, leaving time for the company to prepare the new campus and transition production from Burbank. Job postings from Dhar Mann Studios have already referenced work at a new facility in Chatsworth as well as its Burbank location.
Original Burbank location
.webp)
The original Dhar Mann Studios location at 4400 Empire Avenue in Burbank.
The sellers paid more in 2021
Gem Realty Capital and Lincoln Property Company sold the Owensmouth Avenue property to Dhar Mann Studios. Public records cited by The Real Deal show the sellers paid $25 million in June 2021; Compass records the transaction more precisely at $25.27 million.
The new $23 million price is roughly $2.27 million below that recorded 2021 sale. The campus had been marketed without a published asking price as a vacant, owner-user opportunity that could remain a studio or be converted back to warehouse or manufacturing use.
That discount fits the broader pressure on Los Angeles production real estate. FilmLA recorded 19,694 permitted on-location shoot days in 2025, down 16.1 percent from 2024. The measure does not count work conducted on certified soundstages, but it illustrates the production slowdown affecting the regional entertainment economy.
A creator-led studio expands as Hollywood contracts
Dhar Mann built his audience outside the traditional film and television system, distributing inspirational scripted videos directly through YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The company says its productions generate more than 1 billion views per month across social platforms.
That makes the Chatsworth acquisition notable beyond the purchase price. At a time when conventional movie and television production has weakened, a digital-first company is buying a sizable studio campus and committing to remain in Los Angeles.
The transaction also gives Dhar Mann Studios more control over a core part of its operation. Instead of depending on a leased facility, the company will own a campus already equipped with stages and the supporting rooms needed to sustain its high-volume production model.
For Chatsworth, the deal keeps a purpose-built studio property in production use. For the wider Valley, it is another sign that the next generation of entertainment tenants may arrive with social-media audiences rather than broadcast schedules.
More Valley property history: Explore the blog’s Architecture and Real Estate page.
Post a Comment