Hackman Capital Partners is expected to give up its ownership of Radford Studio Center — a historic television and film studio in Los Angeles, Calif. — after allegedly defaulting on a $1.1 billion mortgage, according to Bloomberg.
Per the outlet, Goldman Sachs is leading a takeover of the famous facility, where “Gilligan’s Island” and “Seinfeld” were notably filmed, after refinancing talks between HCP and its lenders failed.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to inform the lenders that we must pause further efforts to complete the restructuring,” Hackman’s HCP Studio Fund wrote in a letter to investors, according to Bloomberg. “While disappointing, we do not see a realistic alternative.”
Though, Hackman Capital was not ready to publicly wave the flag just yet, telling the outlet on Wednesday: “We are continuing to work with the Radford lenders on a path forward for this asset … This is a challenging time for all suppliers and independent studio owners and operators in the US.”
Yet, the company did note that finding a resolution regarding the Radford Studio Center would only help their business.
“We have substantial capital behind us,” the company told Bloomberg, “hold 50% of our assets without debt, and remain geographically diverse, with 55% of our studios outside the US.”
Hackman Capital is the world’s largest owner of studio properties, which include 19 facilities with 145 active sound stages. Culver Studios and CBS Television City studio are among the properties in their portfolio.
However, according to the report, revenue from Radford only covered about 21% of the cost of servicing its debt as of June.
Additionally, in a letter to investors, Hackman Capital accused the MBS Group — who operate Radford and some of their other facilities — of hampering prior efforts of debt restructuring.
“MBS delivered a proposal requiring significant adverse changes to the Radford equipment rental agreement that would undermine the projected economics of the loan restructuring,” the company wrote, per Bloomberg.
Back in 2021, Hackman scooped up Radford Studio Center (formerly known as CBS Studio Center) for $1.85 billion from ViacomCBS. Then, in 2023, the company vowed to invest $1 billion into the lot in order to renovate it.
But tragedy struck in 2024, when a worker, named J.C. “Spike” Osorio, fatally fell through aging wood on the property, resulting in Radford being hit with a $45,000 penalty.
The post Goldman Set to Acquire Historic Radford Lot After Current Owner’s $1.1 Billion Default | Report appeared first on TheWrap.
