Hackman Capital assembles parcels in Downtown Emeryville

A Los Angeles-area investor in entertainment studios has bought nearly 2 acres of land and two commercial buildings in Downtown Emeryville for a combined $23.2 million.

Hackman Capital Partners, based in Culver City, bought the buildings along with four parcels on Doyle Street, the San Francisco Business Times reported. 

Hackman, which already owned six buildings in the East Bay city, bought four more properties in September, according to public records.

Among its acquisitions were a 33,000-square-foot commercial building on more than three-quarters of an acre at 5515 Doyle Street, for which it paid $18.3 million. The building, which houses Doyle Street Cafe, was sold by Emeryville-based Fordham Properties.

Hackman also bought a 7,000-square-foot commercial building next door on two-thirds of an acre at 5521 Doyle Street for $4.64 million. The building, which houses a bilingual immersion school, was sold by Fordham Properties’ founder Ronald Silberman.

The company also bought two parking lots across the street, including a 0.18-acre parcel at 5522 Doyle Street for $160,000 and an 0.11-acre parcel at 5520 Doyle Street next door for $100,000. The respective sellers were Silberman and Fordham Properties.

Both commercial buildings sit next to a pair of properties at 1250 53rd Street and 1397 55th Street that Hackman bought in 2018. Together, the four parcels contain 2.75 acres now zoned for office and light manufacturing.

It’s not clear what the developer aims to do with its properties. It borrowed $113 million when it bought its latest buildings on Doyle Street, public records show.

The one-time industrial buildings it bought four years ago are now offices that house Adobe and Finless Foods, a maker of plant-based seafood.

Hackman invests in commercial and industrial properties across the U.S., including TV and film studios. In October, it closed a $1.6 billion fund to buy, develop and manage studios worldwide.

In November 2021, Hackman and Square Mile Capital Management paid $1.8 billion for the CBS Studio Center in L.A.’s Studio City. In 2019, it bought the landmark CBS Television City studios in L.A.’s Fairfax for $750 million.

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, a candidate for Los Angeles mayor who now leads in the vote count, has drawn battle lines against Hackman’s studio expansion next to his Grove shopping center at the Television City site.

— Dana Bartholomew