CBS' Iconic Television City Studio Reportedly Sells For $700M
CBS Corp.’s iconic Television City in the Fairfax District neighborhood of Los Angeles has reportedly sold for $700M.
Los Angeles-based Hackman Capital Partners has won the bidding war for the 25-acre, 1M SF site, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reports the deal has not yet officially closed. The names of the other bidders in the off-market deal were not reported.
The broadcast giant has owned the property on the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Beverly Boulevard since 1952. It was designed by architect William Pereira.
The headquarters helped establish CBS’ West Coast presence after opening an office away from New York, pioneered television programming and established Los Angeles as the entertainment capital of the world.
Shows such as “Dancing with the Stars,” “The Price is Right,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “All In the Family” and numerous others have been produced there. Currently, “The Late Late Show with James Corden” is being filmed on the lot.
Television City features about 1M SF of studio, soundstages and office space.
Last year, CBS began interviewing commercial real estate brokers to shop the property. It is unclear why the broadcast company began looking into selling Television City but one reason could be its desirable location and the high cost of real estate in the area.
The studio is within walking distance of Caruso’s The Grove outdoor shopping mall and the Original Farmers Market on Fairfax and just a few minutes' drive to Beverly Center shopping center to the west and the Melrose Avenue shopping district to the north.
The LA Times reports that once the sale is finalized, CBS will remain as a tenant and slowly begin moving its operations to its second headquarters in Studio City.
With rumors of a possible sale floating, the historic preservation organization the Los Angeles Conservancy late last year moved to nominate CBS’ Television City as a historic-cultural monument. In June, the Los Angeles City Council declared the site as a historic-cultural monument.
With the landmark designation, new developers planning to redevelop the site would need to go through a lengthy process with the city to make changes.
