UPDATED, Thursday, August 6, 12:08 p.m.: BLT Enterprises is the new owner of Hollywood’s Television Center movie studio, the latest real estate acquisition in the era of the so-called streaming wars.
The Santa Monica-based firm paid a private partnership $64 million for the 6.4-acre complex on Cahuenga Boulevard and Romaine Street, according to the Los Angeles Times.
BLT planned to rename the property as Hollywood Media Center to reflect the shift in media from traditional platforms like television and films toward streaming services and other Internet-based platforms, but has since reconsidered and will for the time being keep the Hollywood Television Center name.
Blackstone Group and Hudson Pacific Properties recently closed on a $1.65 billion deal that centers around soundstages leased to Netflix.
The Hollywood Television Center property has “over 183,000 square feet” of rentable space, according to a website for the property that lists around 4,600 square feet as available. Tenants are a mix of media, tech, and entertainment industry tenants, as well as a Gold’s Gym.
Some of that space is in 100-year-old Art Deco buildings originally built by Technicolor as offices and film processing labs that were used on classic films including “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “The Wizard of Oz.”
There’s also a parking lot on a part of the property south of Romaine Street that BLT may develop, according to BLT’s head of development, Robert Solomon.
The acquisition brings BLT’s Hollywood portfolio of media production, studio, and office space up to 250,000 square feet.
BLT has a mix of properties in its portfolio across California, including offices and industrial properties. In March, the firm sold an 8-acre retail complex in the San Fernando Valley’s Warner Center area to Kaplan Companies for $48 million. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch