Netflix plans to buy historic Radford Studio Center as Hollywood enters new era
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- Netflix is negotiating to acquire the storied Radford Studio Center for $330 million to $400 million, a dramatic discount from the $1.85 billion Hackman Capital Partners paid five years ago.
- The sharp price decline mirrors Southern California’s struggling production market, hurt by the pandemic, 2023 strikes and entertainment studios slashing streaming budgets.
- The deal symbolizes how streaming services have reshuffled Hollywood’s power structure, with Netflix now positioning itself to compete directly with legacy studios for premium production facilities.
Netflix is in negotiations to buy the historic Radford Studio Center lot in Studio City, a deal that symbolizes just how much the streaming giant has transformed the television industry and Hollywood’s legacy businesses.
The Los Gatos-based company plans to purchase the Los Angeles studio that has been home to generations of landmark television shows, including “Gunsmoke” and “Seinfeld,” according to two people with knowledge of the pending deal who were not authorized to speak about it publicly.
Hackman Capital Partners has defaulted on a $1.1-billion mortgage for Radford Studio Center. Investment bank Goldman is leading a takeover of the historic property.
The studio’s previous operator, Hackman Capital Partners, defaulted on a $1.1-billion mortgage in January. Investment bank Goldman Sachs took over the property and is in talks with Netflix to sell it for between $330 million and $400 million.
Representatives for Hackman and Netflix declined to comment on the planned sale.
Culver City-based Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management teamed up to buy the Radford Avenue property from ViacomCBS in 2021 with a winning bid of $1.85 billion, after a competitive battle for the 55-acre studio beloved by the television industry.
At the time, the staggering price tag underscored the value — and scarcity — of TV soundstages in Los Angeles as content producers scrambled for space to shoot TV shows and movies to stock their streaming services. It was one of the largest-ever real estate transactions for a TV studio complex in Los Angeles.
Since then, production has substantially declined in Southern California. L.A. continues to battle the loss of production to other states and countries, as well as the lingering effects on the industry of the pandemic and the 2023 dual writers’ and actors’ strikes. Cutbacks in spending at the major studios after a surge in streaming-fueled TV production have further damped film activity in the region.
Founded by silent film comedy legend Mack Sennett in 1928, the lot became known as “Hit City” in the decades after World War II as popular TV shows such as “Leave It to Beaver,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Will & Grace” were made there. The storied lot gave the Studio City neighborhood its name.
Netflix, which has a market cap of about $455 billion — more than double that of Walt Disney Co. — has maintained its dominance in the global streaming business with more than 325 million subscribers.
The company has production offices worldwide, including facilities in Albuquerque, Brooklyn, London, Madrid and Toronto.
Netflix had secured an $82.7-billion deal to buy Warner Bros. studios and streaming services in December, but withdrew from the bidding war in late February after Paramount Skydance offered $31 a share. As part of the switch, Netflix was paid a $2.8-billion termination fee.
Although Netflix has not said how it would use the Radford Studio Center, the streamer’s familiar red logo is expected to remain a dominant feature in the Hollywood neighborhood for the foreseeable future.
Netflix is the biggest commercial tenant in Hollywood, where it rents about 1.5 million square feet of office and studio space and owns the historic Egyptian Theatre, which it acquired in 2020.
Most of its production in the neighborhood takes place at Raleigh Studios on Melrose Avenue, where it has agreed to be the anchor tenant through 2030.
The company’s offices are located in premium, modern buildings where Netflix has invested significant capital to customize the interiors to its specific requirements. It has leases that extend to 2032.
Radford Studio Center has little office space beyond what is used to support production. Hackman had planned to add more soundstages and offices, but never broke ground on additions.
