Jim Henson Company expected to sell historic Hollywood lot: report

The home of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and all their friends is expected to be sold as part of a reshuffling by the Jim Henson Company.

As first reported by The Wrap, the company is in the process of selling the iconic Jim Henson Company Lot on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood.

The company has been headquartered at the property since 2000.

The Jim Henson Company plans to consolidate its headquarters and the Jim Henson Creature Shop into a single location, moving out of La Brea due to space limitations. The headquarters will be relocated to Burbank, bringing it under the same roof as the special and visual effects company.

While the company is selling the property itself, it will remain a tenant for the foreseeable future, the Wrap reports.

The lot was previously home to A&M Records for more than 30 years, and was the studio where the 1985 humanitarian anthem “We Are the World” was recorded.

Before that, it was the site of various television productions, including “The Red Skelton Show,” “Perry Mason” and the George Reeves “Adventures of Superman” series.

But its most famous tenant, even more so than the characters created by Henson and his collaborators, was one of Hollywood’s greatest trailblazers.

It was originally built as the Charlie Chaplin Studios in 1917 and some of the legendary actor’s most beloved films were shot on the site, including “City Lights,” “The Great Dictator” and “Modern Times.”

The lot was designated a historical cultural monument in 1969, the company says.

For the younger generations, the studio might be better known as the abandoned “Muppet Studios” that Kermit and the rest of the Muppets attempt to save from being razed by an oil tycoon hoping to make a fortune in the 2011 movie-musical “The Muppets.”

The Jim Henson Company purchased the property in 1999 and it underwent extensive renovations. Today, a statue of Kermit dressed as Chaplin’s most famous character, the Tramp, greets visitors to the Hollywood landmark.

In addition to serving as the company’s headquarters, the lot also hosts occasional live theater productions. “Puppet Up! Uncensored,” an adult improv show created by Brian Henson, the current chairman of the Jim Henson Company and son of Jim and Jane Henson, will be performed on the Chaplin Stage on the studio property beginning July 26 through Aug. 4.

It’s unclear who will be purchasing the property or how they intend to use the landmark piece of cinema history, but hopefully it’s not Tex Richman.

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