Real estate investors are looking for a lead role in New York City’s film and television industry.
Hackman Capital and Square Mile Capital Management are reportedly in “advanced talks” to acquire Silvercup Studios in a deal capitalized at roughly $500 million, Commercial Observer reported. Brothers Stuart and Alan Suna founded and co-own the studio — the largest in New York City — and would retain an ownership stake.
The deal for Silvercup would be a familiar joint venture for Hackman and Square Mile, which together acquired an extensive studio portfolio from the Carlyle Group in 2019 for $650 million. In 2018, they acquired the 780,000-square-foot CBS Television City for $750 million.
Known for filming “Mad Men,” “Sex and the City,” “The Sopranos” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” Silvercup has two locations at 42-22 22nd Street and 34-02 Starr Avenue in Long Island totaling 20 studios. In 2014, it purchased a 120,000-square-foot production facility at 295 Locust Avenue in the Bronx that houses four more.
The deal would be Hackman’s first on the East Coast, according to CO. Last year, the real estate investment firm secured $620 million to expand Culver City Studios in Los Angeles, which it acquired in 2014.
Square Mile, which is based in New York, secured $305 million in a joint venture with Innovo this year to finance construction for a 1 million-square-foot warehouse in the Bronx.
In 2019, the firm provided a $180 million construction loan to the developer behind a planned 29-story tower in Brooklyn. [CO] — Orion Jones