Historic CBS Radio Complex Commands $66M

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HOLLYWOOD, CA-Las Vegas-based developer Molasky Pacific LLC plans to redevelop the historic CBS Radio complex known as Columbia Square at 6121 Sunset Blvd. after acquiring the property for $66 million, according to Madison Partners. Lynwood Fields of Madison Partners, who brokered the sale, tells GlobeSt.com that Molasky Pacific plans to redevelop the 125,000-sf building to continue to attract entertainment industry tenants and is considering options that would include adding some residential units to the office and broadcasting facility.

The property, which is 100% occupied, was built in 1938 as a CBS radio studio and was considered cutting-edge when it was built. During the decades that followed, television shows that were broadcast from Columbia Square included the Jack Benny Show, the George Burns & Gracie Allen Show and the pilot episode for I Love Lucy.

Fields, who represented both Molasky and seller Sungow LLC, calls the property “a rare opportunity to breathe new life into a relic of the golden age of Hollywood.” According to Helmi Hisserich, regional adminsitrator for the Community Redevelopment Agency, the redevelopment of Columbia Square will provide new housing, office and entertainment uses “while preserving the key historical elements of the property.”

The 6121 Sunset building, situated on 4.69 acres, is home to KCBS-TV, KCAL-TV and KNX NewsRadio. All three are scheduled to relocate to a new facility adjacent to CBS Studio Center in nearby Studio City.

Fields tells GlobeSt.com that the redevelopment of the building will become part of the ongoing renaissance in Hollywood, where a host of retail, office, residential and entertainment projects have taken off in recent years. “This development foresees maintaining the studio portion of the property and developing around it,” he says.