Lenders are moving in on studio complexes owned by Hackman Capital Partners, the biggest independent owner of soundstages in Los Angeles, as production levels in the region hover around all-time lows.
A lender consortium led by Deutsche Bank have kicked off the process of selling Television City, a storied lot in the central L.A. Fairfax Avenue corridor. They’re owed more than $357 million, according to a notice of default filed last month.
At the same time, Deutsche Bank is looking to offload Manhattan Beach Studios. An industrial company has submitted a preemptive offer, a person involved in the sale tells The Hollywood Reporter. Plans involve clearing or retrofitting the 15 soundstages on the 22-acre studio campus.
“The studio market is evolving, and the financing environment for studio assets remains complex,” said a spokesperson for Hackman in a statement. “We are engaged in active discussions with our lending partners and are carefully evaluating the most appropriate path forward.”
Hackman spent the past decade assembling one of the world’s largest studio portfolios during a time production was booming. It bet big not only on the underlying real estate but also the physical entertainment infrastructure — soundstages, production offices and support facilities — in a bid to vertically integrate ownership with operations as it looked to become the premier one-stop shop for film and TV making. By 2024, it owned more than 145 soundstages across North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The outlook started to change in 2022, when streaming companies started to prioritize profitability over subscriber growth coming out of the COVID-19 shutdowns. That was followed by the dual writers and actors strike and belt-tightening at studios, blows that led to production in L.A. hitting a new nadir to end 2025. Filming for TV shows, long an anchor of shooting in the region, logged a decline of over 50 percent below the five-year average.
Now, Hackman will likely be forced to give up control of Television City, which it bought in 2019 for $750 million, after losing Radford Studio Center and Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York. As of February, there was an outstanding balance of $337.5 million. Signs are pointing to a sale of the property. Lenders are selling the note, which typically means they’ve given up on renegotiating with the borrower, in this case Hackman, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The obvious buyer: Rick Caruso, owner of neighboring shopping mall The Grove who’s long eyed the property and is believed to have been outbid by Hackman Capital when TV City was up for sale. An acquisition would likely involved a partnership with a soundstage operator since the complex is a cultural landmark.
A major consideration for potential buyers is potential interference by Caruso and the Gillmore family, which owns the Original Farmers Market next to the Grove. The billionaire developer in 2025 filed a lawsuit looking to block Hackman Capital from renovating TV City, alleging a state environmental law long-weaponized to stymie building efforts that require city approval.
Separately, Manhattan Beach Studios, which Hackman bought in 2019 for $650 million, is fielding offers after Deutsche Bank filed a notice of default in June. There’s no shortage of Soundstage availability in L.A., but the complex’s proximity to El Segundo and North Orange County, major hubs for the defense industry, may prove valuable. The industrial company that put in the bid isn’t looking to operate soundstages, the source said.
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