Chris Graham
Managing director of real estate at The Blackstone Group
It’s no surprise that Blackstone Group is again on the Power L.A. list, especially after the firm continued to make major moves in Southern California, while the rest of the world remained on the sidelines due to the pandemic.
But the firm solidified its power status after completing what became the blockbuster deal of the summer in Hollywood. Blackstone made a gigantic splash when it jumped into the filming and production business by taking a 49 percent stake in Hudson Pacific Properties’ Hollywood studio and office portfolio. The $1.7 billion agreement involves 1.2 million square feet of production and support space and almost one million square feet of adjacent, Class A office space — most of which is leased to Netflix.
Chris Graham, who leads West Coast acquisitions from the company’s L.A. office, oversaw that deal. It gave Blackstone exposure to some 35 stages at the highly sought-after Sunset Bronson, Sunset Gower and Sunset Las Palmas Studios, as demand for that kind of space continues to climb. The new joint venture plans to expand the portfolio approximately 1.1 million square feet of development rights at Sunset Gower and Sunset Las Palmas. Hudson is already making plans to expand Sunset Gower Studios through an entitlement process, and the joint venture will look to partner on future studio acquisitions in L.A.
Of course, that’s not all Graham and Blackstone have accomplished, despite the downturn. There’s also a $110 million loan that Blackstone provided in October for a large office in the media and tech hub Culver City, which provided another glimmer of hope for an office market hindered by incalculable uncertainty.
Graham was also involved in the firm’s activity in Northern California, which notably includes Blackstone’s acquisition of a Silicon Valley office that’s leased to Roku Inc., which makes devices for streaming TV.—G.C.
