DISNEY SEEKS OFFICE TOWER.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

Walt Disney Co., keeping up its aggressive local expansion efforts, has submitted plans to the city of Burbank to build a 10-story office tower on its studio lot next to its animation facility.

The project will be visible from the Ventura Freeway and occupy the space currently used as a parking lot for the animation building, anchored by a 40-foot reproduction of the sorcerer's hat worn by Mickey Mouse in ``Fantasia.''

Disney has not disclosed which logo it will use on the building near the southwest corner of Riverside Drive and Buena Vista Street, nor the project's cost or what operations it will contain. Original plans submitted to the city contained a logo for the ABC television network, acquired last year by Disney, but a spokesman said the network logo would not be on the structure.

The project is part of a larger master plan for development of the Disney lot already approved by the Burbank City Council with the provision for 300,000 to 400,000 additional square feet of space. Groundbreaking could take place within a few months once the city approves the specific plans.

Disney, which has about 9,000 employees in Burbank and Glendale, announced a month ago it had bought 96 acres of property in Glendale at the Grand Central Business Centre, saying it made more sense to own the property rather than rent it. The entertainment giant occupies about 60 percent of the properties at the location, which has 2 million square feet.

Disney, which has been searching for more property in Burbank and Glendale over the past two years, began occupying a former Lockheed Corp. ``Skunk Works'' plant in Burbank late last year after developer M. David Paul and Associates renovated the 200,000-square-foot structure. It has moved animation operations into the four-story building and is the sole tenant.

M. David Paul also recently bought a 10-acre site in the northern part of Burbank from the city for $5 million and is developing an office campus project with 650,000 square feet. Disney is a likely candidate to be a tenant.

Disney also announced Monday, as expected, that it agreed to buy Mammoth Records, one of the top independent labels in the recording industry.

Mammoth has a roster of more than 25 artists, including the gold-record-selling Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Backsliders, Pure, Victoria Williams and Frente!

The price of the deal was not disclosed but published reports estimate a deal of $25 million. Other rumored bidders included PolyGram's A&M Records, Mercury Records, Interscope Records and MCA Records.

Mammoth has a catalog of about 120 albums, including collections such as MTV Buzz Bin and Southern Rock Country Style. Jay Faires, Mammoth's founder and president, will continue as Mammoth's president and enter into a five-year employment contract with Disney. Faires started Mammoth in 1988.

The deal is an attempt by Disney to crack the pop music business after racking up more than $100 million in losses since the early 1990s with its Hollywood Records. The label suffered a major embarrassment last month when concern over obscene lyrics forced it to pull 135,000 copies of Insane Clown Posse's album a few days after the album had been shipped to retailers.

Also, Disney is expected to announce earnings today for its third quarter ended June 30 with a consensus forecast of analysts at 67 cents a share, a 13 percent gain over the same period last year. Results should be helped by strong attendance at its Florida theme parks and hurt by problems at ABC.

Shares of Disney, which hit a record high of $85.125 on May 12, were off 59 cents to $75.19 on Monday. The issue has been depressed over concerns about ABC and a disappointing performance by its ``Hercules'' animated movie.

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Map: Proposed Disney office tower