Hackman, Square Mile in talks to buy Silvercup Studios

Joint venture in talks for nearly $500M deal to buy NYC’s biggest film studio

Square Mile Capital’s Craig Solomon and Hackman Capital Partner's Michael Hackman with Silvercup Studios at 42-22 22nd Street in Long Island City (Hackman; AAK via Wikipedia Commons)
Square Mile Capital’s Craig Solomon and Hackman Capital Partner's Michael Hackman with Silvercup Studios at 42-22 22nd Street in Long Island City (Hackman; AAK via Wikipedia Commons)

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.

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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