NBCUniversal Concurs to 10-Year Lease at Universal City Tower (Exclusive)

NBCUniversal has decided to renew its lease at 10 Universal City Plaza for ten years inside a deal valued at about $170 million, based on several property sources with understanding from the Universal City transaction. The offer, that has not closed, is perfect for roughly 370,000 sq ft with landlord Normandy Property Partners of Morristown, N.J. Itis thought to become the biggest office lease within the La area since Fox Interactive signed a $350 million offer 2008 for space inside a Playa Vista office development. Several models and divisions of NBCUniversal maintain offices in the 36-story, 774,240-square-feet granite and glass tower, including SyFy, NBCUniversal Television Distribution and Universal Galleries Entertainment. Other tenants within the Class A building, that is across from Universal Galleries Hollywood, include Panasonic and Universal Group, the building's biggest tenant. The transaction is thought to become the most important property deal produced by management since Comcast completed its acquisition of a big part share of recent You are able to-based NBCUniversal from Whirlpool in The month of january. NBCUniversal rejected to comment. The business's new lease begins at roughly $3.35 per sq . ft . monthly and consists of annual escalations, based on sources. Typically, such rents escalate by 3% yearly. It's a full service gross lease -- a kind of deal which involves the owner having to pay for taxes, maintenance, insurance and utilities. The lease begins in a slightly greater rental rate than typical deals for high-finish space in the region. One source stated that rents for Class An area within the nearby Burbank Media District are now being inked in the plethora of $3 to $3.25 per sq . ft . monthly. Based on data from property services firm Grubb & Ellis Co., the typical asking rent for Class An area in Burbank throughout the 2nd quarter was $3.30 per sq . ft . monthly. Bill Boyd, an experienced real estate broker who is an expert within the Burbank and Glendale marketplaces, stated that Normandy Property had a chance to request for any greater rental rate because NBCUniversal might have couple of options nearby whether it were to maneuver. "There is nowhere nearby with the standard or location of the existing space, which always instructions reasonably limited available on the market,Inch stated Boyd, a senior controlling director at real estate brokerage Charles Dunn Co. He isn't active in the transaction. Sources stated that included in the deal, NBCUniversal will be presented a roughly $17 million allowance in the landlord to create enhancements to its offices. NBCUniversal will even hand back to Normandy Property about 30,000 sq ft of space it presently rents. Your building used to be possessed by former Universal Galleries parent Vivendi, which offered the home in 2003 to investment management firm Beacon Capital Partners of Boston and CarrAmerica Real estate Corp. of Washington. Normandy Property acquired the tower in 2008. NBCUniversal has been symbolized by real estate services firm Johnson Lang LaSalle, that could 't be arrived at for comment Normandy Property is symbolized by CB Richard Ellis Group, which rejected to comment. Normandy Property didn't react to e-mails seeking comment. Email: Daniel.Burns@THR.com Twitter: @DanielNMiller Related Subjects NBCUniversal

Terra Nova Exclusive: On the Set of TV's Hottest New Show

Terra Nova There's an earsplitting boom and Stephen Lang hits the deck hard as the windows implode. "That's nothing," the buff 59-year-old actor says, removing his earplugs and brushing sawdust from his hair. "You wouldn't believe the stuff that happens around here." We're deep in the Australian bush on the set of Fox's new adventure series Terra Nova. In the scene filming today, a meteor has just exploded in the atmosphere above the prehistoric colony presided over by Lang's Commander Nathaniel Taylor, knocking out the power and throwing up yet another obstacle for the pilgrims from the future who are grappling with the past. It's clear from the size and permanency of the set that this megabucks Steven Spielberg-produced series, about a family from the year 2149 who travel back 85 million years to help reboot civilization, is a hugely ambitious project. With the two-hour premiere's budget estimated at $16 million, and the promise of showstopping visual effects each week, this is shaping up to be the most expensive TV show ever made. "I opened the script and I thought, 'There's absolutely no way this can be made,'" says series star Jason O'Mara (Life on Mars). "I've been doing television almost exclusively for the past eight years and I've done some very ambitious shows, but nothing like this. So that's pretty much why I wanted to sign up." At the center of the story is the Shannon family, part of the Tenth Pilgrimage to the past. They leave behind an Earth where pollution and overpopulation threaten mankind with extinction. Scientists have discovered a fracture in the time-space continuum, delivering a one-way ticket to an unspoiled Earth where humanity can start anew. Ex-cop Jim Shannon (O'Mara) has been jailed for breaking the 22nd century "family is four" law - limiting couples to two children - but manages a last-minute escape to join his surgeon wife Elisabeth (British actress Shelley Conn) and their teenage children Josh (Landon Liboiron) and Maddy (Naomi Scott), plus their illegal third child, 5-year-old Zoe (Alana Mansour), as they head into a brave new world. "We're trying to create a civilization here in the way the pioneers did in the old West," says O'Mara, as a low mist rolls in over the set and the silence is punctured by the eerie call of a whipbird. Here in the lush Gold Coast hinterland of Queensland in northeast Australia, a large ensemble and hundreds of extras are working long hours, but the mood is buoyant. They're shooting mostly on location, in a former cow pasture that now hosts the sprawling Terra Nova settlement, a football field-size colony ringed by majestic bushland. Everyone agrees that the landscape feeds into the authenticity of what they're creating on screen. "It feels prehistoric here," says New Zealander Simone Kessell, who plays Commander Taylor's sidekick Alicia Washington. "When you look up at that tree line, it feels like no one has ever been here before. It has this untouched quality." Even on the other side of the world, the buzz and expectations for the show are unavoidable. "We're telling this particular story on a scale for television that's never been done before," O'Mara says. "This set is the kind of thing you would build for The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings." Avatar star Lang agrees, calling this the most challenging production he's been involved in: "When you're dealing with computer-generated dinosaurs, with meteors and forces of nature, you feel like the stakes are raised." Oh, yes, did we mention the dinosaurs? We're promised roughly one new creature each episode - some benign, some petrifying, all of them spectacular. Created primarily with cutting-edge CGI, they stomp and chomp their way through the series, casting a long shadow. "It's so true when they say the show's really about the drama, about the people," says Lang. "Except... It is about the dinosaurs! Which doesn't mean that the dinosaurs have to appear in every frame, but the potential of them coming, the sound of them passing by always has to be thrilling and possible and when they do come, they just have to be magnificent." We'll meet a baby ankylosaurus incubated from an abandoned egg; rampaging, short-armed carnotauruses; and a pack of nicoraptors, which are like mangy, feral dogs. And in an episode that plays like an homage to Hitchcock's The Birds, the colony is encircled by scores of pterosaurs, nasty winged beasts the size of large crows. "Moments like that are not designed to electrify audiences with the beauty so much," says Lang. "They're meant to scare the pants off you." That will be up to the effects people. But Terra Nova's staying power will rest with its story line and character conflict, hence the marketing team's emphasis on family drama over sci-fi mythology. Exec producers Brannon Braga and René Echevarria describe it as an intimate epic - kind of Little House on the Prairie meets Jurassic Park. "The makings of the show are epic, but at the center of it all is this one family," Braga says from L.A., where he's writing upcoming episodes. For more on Terra Nova, pick up this week's issue of TV Guide Magazine, on newsstands Thursday, August 25! Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

Law & Order: SVU Recruits NBA Star Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony, Mehcad Brooks New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony will play himself in a guest star-heavy episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, TVGuide.com has learned.Fall Preview: Get scoop on all your favorite returning showsAnthony and fellow NBA star Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat will each make cameo appearances in the opening scene and the episode's climax. The episode, titled "Personal Fouls," focuses on a youth basketball coach (The Wonder Years' Dan Lauria) who is suspected of being a sexual predator.Also appearing in the episode is True Blood and Necessary Roughness star Mehcad Brooks, who plays Prince Miller, a fictional basketball superstar who was once one of the suspected coaches' prodigies. Rapper/actor Heavy D will also guest-star as Miller's cousin and business manager.Exclusive: International film star takes on Dominique Strauss-Kahn for Law & Order: SVULaw & Order: SVU returns Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 10/0c on NBC. The episode is slated to air on Sept. 28.

Alfonso Cuarn's 'Gravity' Pushes 'A New Boundary In Filmmaking,' Says Guillermo Del toro

As if we didn't already have enough reasons to be excited for Alfonso Cuarn's "Gravity," Guillermo del Toro is here to vouch that it's going to blow our minds. It's a movie that's taken a very long time to get into production, and even had James Cameron skeptical of its scope. But I didn't put it on my list of movies that desperately needed to be put through production in 2011 for nothing, and with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in the lead roles it seems like it could be certifiably great. Del Toro seems to think that it's going to change sci-fi films as we know them. "I'm amazed at Alfonso the past few movies because he's completely transformed himself," he said when MTV News spoke with him recently. "['Gravity' is] incredibly well-calculated. Very human, if you know the story." Like Cameron with "Avatar," Cuarn has created new camera technology for "Gravity" so he can give it the look he pictures for the sci-fi epic. Though del Toro wouldn't share what exactly Cuarn has come up with, he said that it will likely get a lot of press soon and is very Kubrickian. "[They're] absolutely pushing a new boundary in filmmaking, completely mindblowing. And the way they're making that movie will, I think, forever change certain types of productions," he said. If that's not enough to get you excited, the news that Cuarn managed to out-Cameron James Cameron might. Turns out del Toro put Cuarn in touch with Cameron to try to get some insight for their camera technology, and Cameron said that what they wanted to do couldn't be done. "Jim said, well you know, look, you're about five years into the future. When Jim said that it's too early to try anything that crazy, they did it," del Toro said. Are you looking forward to "Gravity" as much as we are? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Spider-Man Villain Rhys Ifans Off the Hook for Comic-Con Brouhaha

Less than a month after a bizarre incident in which The Amazing Spider-Man actor Rhys Ifans was cited for a backstage altercation at Comic-Con, the city of San Diego has declined to press charges: “After reviewing differing witness accounts, our prosecutors concluded there was not sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” a rep for the Attorney’s Office told E! News, leaving Ifans free to pester his true nemesis: Spidey! [E! Online]

Ricki Lake Will get Engaged

Ricki Lake and Christian Evans Ricki Lake is engaged to Christian Evans, the actress and ex-talk show host introduced on Twitter Thursday. "Thrilled to talk about some happy news along with you,Inch Lake, 42, authored, connecting to some picture of her and Evans. "I am engaged!" Produce a free Watchlist now and not miss another episode of the favorite shows This is Lake's second marriage. She was formerly married to artist Take advantage of Sussman for nine years prior to the couple split in 2003. They've two sons together - 14-year-old Milo and 10-year-old Owen. Lake, whose first talk show went from 1993 to 2004, is presently creating a new daytime series that will launch in fall of 2012, based on Broadcasting & Cable. She most lately located the VH1 reality series Charm School last year.

"Adorable" Zooey Deschanel Takes on Tailor-Made Role in New Girl

Zooey Deschanel "When did you realize you were adorable?" one admiring reporter half-seriously asked Zooey Deschanel, evoking a flood of tweets that accompanied the panel for New Girl, Fox's new comedy starring the (500) Days of Summer actress. "I don't think of myself that way, but I will take the compliment." Deschanel plays Jess, a quirky, slightly vulnerable, geeky gal embarking on an unfamiliar new phase in her life. Incidentally, this also pretty accurately describes her portrayer. To hear Deschanel tell it, taking on her first role on a television series was practically fated. "When I read the script for the pilot... I don't know if I've ever seen a part that was as charming and exciting and made me think," she said. "I was laughing out loud." Fox announces premiere dates for Terra Nova, X Factor and more When we first meet Deschanel's Jess, she's in a tailspin after a nasty breakup. As she convalesces, she subjects her three new male roommates to crying jags, periodic singing to herself and repeated viewings of Dirty Dancing. "I obviously needed to play this part; this is me," Deschanel joked. "I mean, not actually me, but it is a part of me, a secret part." Viewers may have a hard time imagining the and She & Him crooner, who memorably shower-serenaded Will Ferrell in the movie Elf, in a role described as "geeky." "There are some attractive dorks out there," countered series creator Liz Meriwether. "And Liz is giving them a voice!" added executive producer Jake Kasdan. "I didn't think I could find somebody as weird as I am," Meriwether added, recalling Deschanel's first audition. "The second she opened her mouth, everybody was like, 'This is a perfect match of character and actress.'" New Girl premieres Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 9/8c on Fox.

Olivia Wilde to play porn star Linda Lovelace?

Olivia Wilde has hinted that she could play Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace in an upcoming biopic.In an interview with E! Online (via The Playlist), Wilde admitted she was considering the role: "I'm being very careful about my next project since I'm now in a position where I can be really picky."On playing Lovelace, she added: "It would be a tremendous honour... It's such a cool role. She was a fascinating woman-with where she came from to Deep Throat to then working with Gloria Steinem and Nora Ephron. It's really fascinating."Just to clarify things, Wilde is talking about a possible role in a new project from Howl directors Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman. There is another Lovelace movie, entitled Inferno, currently in the works.Inferno will star Malin Akerman (who replaced Lindsay Lohan) as the porn star turned activist. Could this be another case of two conspicuously similar movies arriving within months of each other, like Capote/Infamous, Deep Impact/Armageddon, Antz/A Bug's Life et al?Lovelace (real name Linda Susan Boreman) became internationally famous with breakout skin flick Deep Throat, before later stating that she was forced against her will into pornography by former husband Chuck Traynor.She went on to become an outspoken anti-pornography activist. Considering her fame, and the drama and scandal that defined her life, it's no surprise that she has been singled out for the movie treatment.If Wilde signs on, it could be a hell of a role for her, but the movie could suffer if Inferno is first out of the gate.Wilde is currently enjoying a run of box-office ubiquity: she'll be seen in Cowboys & Aliens and The Change-Up this summer, with In Time and Butter to follow later in the year.