The owners of a historic Hollywood production campus — that is leased to tenants like HBO and the Oprah Winfrey Network — are looking to sell the property, Commercial Observer has learned.
Sources confirmed that CIM Group is looking for a buyer to take The Lot on Formosa, which features more than 540,000 square feet of soundstages, support space, and production and post-production offices. The lot has been home to a long list of prominent Hollywood productions, including classics like “West Side Story” and current hit shows like HBO’s “Euphoria.”
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Soundstages have become some of the most valuable assets on the market thanks to the rapid expansion of streaming platforms. In addition to a string of new studio developments entering the pipeline over the past few years, content creation campuses have also drawn massive acquisition bids. For example, the CBS Studio Center — which has over three times the number of soundstages as The Lot — sold for approximately $1.85 billion.
The Lot at Formosa spans 11 acres at 1041 North Formosa Avenue, at Santa Monica Boulevard and North Formosa Avenue in the city of West Hollywood. It includes seven soundstages with 86,662 square feet of space, historic production office buildings, three additional and more recently completed office buildings, and two large parking structures built by CIM Group.
Current tenants include the Oprah Winfrey Network, Showtime, BET, Live Nation and Discovery. And last year HBO and HBO Max signed a long-term lease for 161,108 square feet of sound stages, support buildings and production office space.
CIM Group acquired the property in 2007, and completed adaptive reuse and modernization of the campus’ existing structures by expanding the studio campus and constructing three new office buildings and a restaurant.
The site was originally built in 1918, and has a rich history in show business, even by Hollywood’s standards. It was owned by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and Samuel Goldwyn and Howard Hughes have rented office space at the site. Frank Sinatra was also a long-term tenant and recorded albums and films on the site.
And the list of The Lot’s productions includes “Some Like It Hot,” “Apocalypse Now,” “The Green Mile,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Se7en,” and “The Social Network.”
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
