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The Radford Studio Center lot that lenders took back from Hackman Capital Partners last year is headed to the foreclosure auction block this month, but Netflix's plan to buy it is still "a done deal," an anonymous source told The Hollywood Reporter.
The Netflix purchase of the Studio City lot was supposed to close earlier this year, but Netflix asked lenders, led by Goldman Sachs, to handle the foreclosure process, according to THR.
Foreclosure auctions offer a straightforward way for lenders to take back a property title and to wipe out most junior liens and any other issues that could have cropped up on the title, such as mechanic's liens. Many foreclosure auctions do not end up in bidding wars or sales to outside buyers, who typically approach lenders after the auction is complete to negotiate a transaction.
The auction for the 55-acre studio property will take place in Pomona, California, on Nov. 24. The lenders are looking for an estimated $1.3B, roughly the outstanding debt and fees on the property, according to THR.
Netflix was planning to pay closer to $400M for the site. The property had been appraised at $1.8B in 2021, the same year Hackman Capital Partners paid $1.85B for it, but that was before worker strikes and a yearslong filming slump from which the region has yet to recover.
Independently owned studio properties in general have been hit hard by a one-two punch of rising interest rates and falling occupancy. Streaming services have pulled back from new productions in recent years in the wake of strikes and a slowdown in new subscriptions.
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