Streaming giant planning to scoop up massive Hollywood studio lot at a deep discount

Netflix is expected to make a bid for a historic Los Angeles studio lot where shows like “Seinfeld” were filmed.

The streaming giant is looking to buy the iconic 55-acre Radford Studio Center in Studio City for $400 million when it hits the auction block on Nov. 24, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Radford, formerly known as CBS Studio Center, has been a fixture of LA television production for decades.

While lenders led by Goldman Sachs are seeking about $1.3 billion for the lot — roughly the debt owed on the property — the final price is expected to land well below that amid record-low film and TV production in the area.

Netflix had previously been negotiating a direct purchase from the Goldman-led lenders at a price of up to $400 million, just over 20 percent of the $1.85 billion Hackman Capital Partners paid for the lot in 2021. 

Lenders took the property back from Hackman about nine months ago and put it back on the market. 

A Netflix spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the transaction is moving forward, while another person with knowledge of the situation said: “It’s a done deal.”

Netflix asked Goldman to carry out the foreclosure and handle the related expenses before arranging a sale, according to a source who spoke to the outlet.

The arrangement could sidestep the city’s 5.5 percent “mansion tax” on property sales above $10.9 million, which could have run to about $22 million.

“There are a number of reasons a deal would be structured in this fashion that have nothing to do with taxation,” another source told the news outlet. Having the lenders run the foreclosure also spares Netflix from managing that process itself, which could have added delay and uncertainty.

Netflix has long been leasing the Sunset Studios, owned by Hudson Pacific Properties, and the company also shoots at Raleigh Studios.

Taking over Radford would add a boost to Netflix’s production capacity in LA by bringing much of the scattered production under one roof.

Netflix is likely to continue leasing the ICON, EPIC and CUE buildings at Sunset Studios.

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