Hackman and the City: Hackman, Square Mile buy Silvercup Studios

Silvercup Studios has been home to Mad Men, Sex and the City and The Sopranos

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; Silvercup Studios)
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; Silvercup Studios)

Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital closed on their purchase of the New York City studio behind Mad Men, Sex and the City and The Sopranos.

The investors bought Silvercup Studios from brothers Stuart and Alan Suna, whose family founded the film and television studio nearly four decades ago, Hackman and Square Mile announced Thursday.

The deal was reportedly worth $500 million, according to Commercial Observer.

Silvercup Studios, the largest film studio in New York City, was founded in 1983 on the site of the landmark Silvercup Bakery. The studio now includes three campuses in Long Island City, Queens and the Bronx spanning 10.4 acres. In total, Silvercup has 23 soundstages totaling more than 240,000 square feet and 265,000 square feet of office and production support space, according to a release.

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Silvercup Studios is currently filming HBO’s Succession and FX’s Pose.

The Silvercup acquisition marks Hackman and Square Mile’s seventh deal together. The joint venture’s portfolio spans nearly $3.8 billion in studio and media assets including 60 soundstages and nearly 3.6 million square feet of space. This includes the purchase of a studio portfolio from the Carlyle Group in 2019 for $650 million in Manhattan Beach, California. In 2018, the group acquired the 780,000-square-foot CBS Television City in Los Angeles for $750 million.

The pandemic has led to a greater demand for new content and tv shows as restaurants and bars remain closed in many places throughout the country. Institutional investors have also turned to their attention to the film and television sector.

This summer, Blackstone announced plans to buy a 49 percent stake in Hudson Pacific’s Hollywood office and soundstage properties for film production, a portfolio valued at $1.65 billion and largely leased to Netflix.