Stephan Smith has been responsible for Los Angeles Center, one of the largest development sites in downtown Los Angeles, since the late 1980's. Mr. Smith handled the initial acquisition of Unocal's 12.5 acre headquarters property and assembled an additional six acres of developable land. He selected and directed 75 architects, engineers and key consultants to master plan the 20 acre assemblage and obtained all governmental approvals and environmental clearances for 5,000,000 square feet of development. Mr. Smith also established a marketing strategy for the project which included a highly-regarded exhibit center, audiovisual aids, printed materials, and an advertising and public relations campaign and negotiated a 450,000 lease with Unocal to anchor the first tower.
When the Downtown market suffered a severe downturn in the early 90's and Unocal's new management decided to leave Los Angeles and exit the retail market, Mr. Smith launched a campaign to build a new Downtown arena for the Kings, Lakers and Clippers on the site. Following extensive design and financing efforts and months of negotiations, a joint venture was formed with the owners of the Kings to build and operate the arena. However, shortly thereafter it became necessary for the team to be sold. Once the sale was consummated with another party (the current owners) the arena venue was moved.
Attempting to clear the site for future development, Mr. Smith sought production companies to film an implosion of the old Unocal building. In the process he met a downtown-based locations company and agreed to allow location filming in and around the building. The success of filming together with a lack of production facilities in the much-filmed Downtown area led to the concept to build and operate Los Angeles Center Studios, the first studio in the downtown area and, in fact, the first new Los Angeles studio in over 50 years. Since opening in September, 1999 the Studios have hosted over 300 commercials, music videos, major special events for such clients as Sony Playstation, General Motors and Microsoft, a variety of television shows and major motion pictures including Mission Impossible II, Charlie's Angels, Planet of the Apes, Panic Room, Vanilla Sky and Terminator 3. Once complete, Los Angeles Center Studios will be the largest independent studio in the country.
Two years ago Mr. Smith’s company, SHM Partners formed a joint venture, Film Studio Group (FSG), with William F. White, one of the world’s largest grip and lighting companies, to provide consulting and development expertise on proposed as well as existing film production facilities from site acquisition, feasibility and financing assistance, through programming and construction phases and into operations, marketing and provision of equipment and services. FSG’s past and current projects include existing and to-be-built studios across the U.S., including Hawaii, in five of the Provinces in Canada and two locations in Mexico. In addition, FSG has been involved in projects in the U.K. (London area); Alicante, Spain; Prague, Czech Republic; Cape Town, South Africa and Melbourne, Australia. Commissions are currently pending in Portugal, New Zealand, China and Thailand. There is no other independent purveyor of such comprehensive studio services on this scale in the world.
Mr. Smith initially formed Smith & Hricik Development Company in 1985 and entered into a partnership with Hillman Properties to develop a 21 story office building in Glendale, CA on a site purchased from his prior employer. Previously, Mr. Smith bought and sold income properties for a syndication company and was a lender specializing in construction financing for large commercial projects.
He has a B.A. in Economics from Yale University (1972) and a M.B.A. in Finance from Wharton Business School (1977). He is past Chairman of the Central City Association and still an active member of the Executive Committee. He is also active in a number of other business and charitable organizations.
