UNIVERSAL CITY, CA-NBC Universal plans to develop a news center and TV studio here that will aim for a LEED Silver certification for its design, construction and ongoing operations. The new facility at the Universal City site will be modeled after the new NBC News World Headquarters that is scheduled to open later this month at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and will be part of a larger development at NBC Universal's 391-acre holdings here.

The news center is part of a larger overall West Coast strategic plan, part of which was reported on GlobeSt.com late last year, that would add hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space, 2,900 housing units, 100,000 sf or more of new retail space, new production facilities and substantial other new development at the Universal City site. Besides Universal Studios, the 391 acres are already home to the studio's Universal Studios theme park and the Universal CityWalk mixed-use retail development.

As part of the overall long-range plan to centralize its operations in Universal City, NBC Universal says it expects to sell a major portion of its 34-acre studio lot in the Burbank Media District. The sale of a portion of the Burbank studio lot, “will likely involve the retention of portions of the Burbank property, and the leaseback of certain facilities, providing NBC Universal with the option to keep some productions on the Burbank lot for several years,” the company says.