Hackman Capital Agrees to Buy CBS Television City for $750M
CBS will also retain office space for CBS Studios International’s US headquarters and other company departments currently housed on the Television City site.
LOS ANGELES—Locally-based Hackman Capital Partners has reached an agreement with CBS Corp. to acquire the broadcast network’s iconic 25-acre CBS Television City and sound stage property here for $750 million.
As part of the transaction that is expected to close in early 2019, CBS programs, such as “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” “The Price Is Right,” “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and The Beautiful,” will continue to be produced at the property for the next five years. CBS will also retain office space for CBS Studios International’s US headquarters and other company departments currently housed on the Television City site.
Hackman Capital, which broke ground on Monday on its expansion at its Culver Studios in Culver City, CA, will also have the rights to use the Television City trademark in connection with its operations on the property.
“The sale of Television City unlocks significant value, increasing CBS’ financial flexibility, including the ability to redeploy capital for strategic growth initiatives such as additional content investment,” says Joseph Ianniello, president and acting CEO, CBS Corp. “At the same time, we will be transitioning this venerable site to a new owner who is committed to its legacy as both a cultural landmark and modern production facility. Hackman Capital has demonstrated terrific stewardship of classic properties, including their development of the landmark Culver Studios.”
CBS owns the 40-acre CBS Studios Center in Studio City, CA, which will remain the company’s primary production facility. That campus is home to the broadcast network, CBS Television Studios and CBS Television Stations KCBS and KCAL.
“The acquisition of the legendary Television City will add another crown jewel to our portfolio,” says Michael Hackman, CEO of Hackman Capital Partners. “We have had great success modernizing and transforming real estate into state-of-the art facilities for notable media, entertainment and content creation companies. With a tremendous operations team already in place, we envision an exciting future for this storied production studio.”
Hackman Capital also broke ground yesterday on phase two of its Culver Studios “Innovation Plan” project that will not only modernize the century-old studio in Culver City, but more than double its size.
When the Innovation Plan is completed, the Culver Studios campus will total 720,850 square feet—including the Mansion and adjacent bungalows, five new buildings, totaling 575,000 square feet and two parking structures with 1930 spaces. In total, the campus ill offer 619,850 square feet of creative office and state-of-the-art production support space, 96,263 square feet of stages and 4,736 square feet of stage support space.
Hackman Capital Partners announced yesterday that Amazon Studios had signed a lease for two additional buildings at the campus, expanding its total occupancy to 530,000 square feet, including its existing space in the mansion and bungalows and four of the new buildings once complete. Amazon Studios announced last year that the company would move its headquarters to the studios, along with affiliates IMDb, Amazon Video and World Wide Advertising.
Construction is anticipated to take a total of 30 months, with final completion anticipated in early 2021.