Kaufman Astoria Studio complex gets new building

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 5, 2000

Studio "J," the first "new" building to be added to the Kaufman Astoria Studio (KAS) Complex, is being designed by the Janson Design Group.

"This is the first building to be built as, a studio from the ground up," said Dennis Janson, managing partner of the Janson Design Group. All of the other studios in complex have been retrofitted existing buildings.

The 30,000 square-foot building will be sited at the main entrance to the complex. It will be the seventh stage. in the complex, adding a 15,000 to 18,000 square-foot sound stage and more than 20,000 square feet of support space." "Adding a seventh large stage to the complex will solidify the entertainment complex's position as. the premier production center for feature film, television, video and electronic production in New York State and on the East Coast," said Hal G. Rosenbluth, president of Kaufman Astoria Studios, in approving the final design. "It will bring KAS closer to critical mass and should stabilize the studio's utilization rate."

"The new, studio building is very much a 'form follows function' design intended to fit comfortably into the existing studio setting in Astoria, Queens. Exterior walls of the sound stage have been carefully designed to satisfy both acoustic aesthetic considerations simultaneously," explained Janson. "The stage and surrounding support facilities will be every bit as flexible and accommodating as competing studios elsewhere in the country and, taken in consideration with the other six stages at Kaufman Astoria, will have every advantage in being part of overall complex."

The internationally recognized Janson Design Group is one of the broadcast industry's leading architectural and interior design firms. The firm has completed a broad range of broadcast facilities including MSNBC's 120,000 square-foot television and broadcast facility in Secaucus, NJ and Time Warner's Bay News 9 cable news center in Tampa Bay, Florida. The firm was also architect of record for The NBC Experience, a new 17,000 square-foot specialty retail store, HDTV Theater and interactive environment in Rockefeller Center.