Sony to Acquire Culver Studios for Columbia : Entertainment: It will pay about $75 million for the facility, which will give its Hollywood subsidiary room to expand.

In a move to expand its Columbia Pictures Entertainment complex, Sony Corp. has quietly signed an agreement to purchase the historic Culver Studios for $70 million to $75 million.

The 17-acre Culver City lot, which contains 14 state-of-the-art sound stages, is expected to serve eventually as headquarters for Columbia’s television operations. Culver Studios is the site where much of “Gone With the Wind,” including the burning of Atlanta, was shot.

The acquisition is seen as another strategic move in Sony’s plan for Columbia, which was in decline when the Japanese electronics giant bought it in 1989. Sony has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on management and talent fees and has announced plans for a massive renovation and expansion of the main Columbia lot.

Sony reportedly signed the agreement to purchase the studios, at 9336 W. Washington Blvd., on Wednesday. Columbia is expected to take occupancy of the property this summer.

Sidney Ganis, executive vice president at Columbia, declined comment on the acquisition, saying: “Corporate policy is to not talk about transactions that have not been completed.” Gannett Co., which owns the studio, could not be reached for comment.

Culver Studios is a natural addition to the main Columbia complex, since the two facilities are located on the same stretch of West Washington Boulevard.

Production activity at Columbia has significantly increased since Sony purchased the studio. Its Columbia and Tri-Star divisions produced 15 films this year and are expected to produce twice as many in 1992. The studio is already pressed for space. Two upcoming films, “Bugsy” and “Hook,” were partially shot on rented stages on the Culver Studios lot.

Gannett, the Virginia-based newspaper chain that publishes USA Today, purchased the Culver Studios for $24 million in 1986 as a hub for the company’s entertainment operations. Gannett is said to have spent an additional $25 million renovating the facility.

The company’s entertainment division, a joint venture with producer Grant Tinker, folded last year after a series of programming failures, and Gannett reportedly put the studio up for sale.

The historic lot, whose white-columned, colonial-style administration building is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable landmarks, was known as Laird International Studios at the time of the Gannett acquisition. But it has existed under several other names over the years.

Built by producer Thomas H. Ince in 1919, the studio was acquired by Hollywood legend Cecil B. DeMille. RKO eventually replaced DeMille, producing “Citizen Kane” and “King Kong” there. Other owners have included Joseph P. Kennedy, Desilu Productions and producer David O. Selznick.

Selznick changed the name of the lot to Selznick International Studios and used the administration building as his trademark. Sets from “King Kong” and “King of Kings” were used as tinder when Selznick staged the burning of Atlanta for “Gone With the Wind.”

Columbia Pictures Television, which produces such hit shows as “Designing Women” and “Married . . . With Children,” is expected to be the primary occupant of Culver Studios. Most of its programs are currently taped at the Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood.