ViacomCBS Announces Deal To Sell Studio City Compound For $1.8B

STUDIO CITY, CA — ViacomCBS has agreed to sell its CBS Studio Center in Studio City for approximately $1.86 billion to Hackman Capital Partners LLC and Square Mile Capital LLC, the companies announced Tuesday.

The vast compound, off Ventura Boulevard and Radford Avenue, sits on 55 acres and features 1 million square feet of space, 22 stages, a broadcast center, offices, and more. The property was originally established in 1927 by silent film producer Mack Sennett, and is the reason Studio City is so named. Numerous iconic shows, like “Seinfeld, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and “Gilligan’s Island,” have been filmed there over the years.

Under the new deal, CBS Broadcasting will lease back the broadcast center, which is home to CBS2 and KCAL9. ViacomCBS will continue to occupy stages and produce content on the lot, and enter into a short-term leaseback of some portions of the property.

"This sale is part of an ongoing optimization of ViacomCBS' real estate and operations portfolio and will allow the company to re-deploy capital to strategic growth priorities, including streaming," Naveen Chopra, executive vice president and chief financial officer for ViacomCBS, said in a statement.

The sale is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval.

"We're honored to have been selected as the new stewards of CBS Studio Center, one of the most celebrated and successful studios in Los Angeles," Hackman founder and CEO Michael Hackman said in a statement. "We're thrilled to continue our ongoing relationship with ViacomCBS to service its many successful shows currently filmed on the lot."

Hackman Capital Partners, based in Los Angeles, also owns the Culver Studios, where “Gone With The Wind,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Lassie,” “Batman,” “Scrubs,” “Arrested Development,” and more were filmed.

In 2019, Hackman also purchased CBS’s Television City, near the Original Farmers Market and the Grove, for $750 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.

— City News Service contributed to this report.