It was long based in Los Angeles suburb Glendale, California, at 401 Brand Boulevard.
[1] In 1982, the S&L promoted itself simply as "Glendale Federal", dropping the "Savings and Loan Association" from its advertising and self-referencing.
[6] In 1997, Glendale Federal Bank formed a holding company called Golden State Bancorp to allow it acquire other businesses.
[7] In a very complex business procedure known as a reverse takeover or reverse merger, businessmen Ronald Perelman and Gerald J. Ford engineered the takeover of Glendale Federal Bank and Golden State Bancorp in 1998 by having public-owned Golden State Bancorp purchase Perelman and Ford's privately-owned First Nationwide Holding Inc. for $2.5-billion in stock which gave First Nationwide Holding's board of directors control of the new merged holding company, the new holding company retained Golden State Bancorp name and history, but the new savings bank retained the California Federal Bank's name and brand.
The studio operated here until 2006, when it moved its offices into Universal City, and the building was bought by Hollywood Production Center.