HPP intends to build 575K sf development on Hollywood Center Studios lot

It’s really happening in Hollywood.

Earlier this month, The Real Deal first reported that Hudson Pacific Properties was in advanced talks to acquire Hollywood Center Studios from Studio Management Services. Now, the parties are in contract, and the deal is slated to close in the second quarter of this year, with HPP planning a 575,000-square-foot development on the site, according to a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

HPP will acquire the nearly 15-acre, 369,000-square-foot studio media and entertainment campus at 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue for $200 million, or $542 per square foot. The site includes 12 sound stages on Santa Monica Boulevard, near the REIT’s other studio holdings: Sunset Bronson Studios and Sunset Gower Studios.

Another firm tried to acquire the property from Studio Management, the ownership partnership led by Alan Singer, for roughly $20 million less, sources said. But HPP attributed $25 million of the sale price to the unoccupied and developable land on the site, where it plans to build a project if it can successfully entitle it, according to the filing.

The studio space on the lot is fully leased. HPP plans to spend up to $15 million to renovate it, according to an analyst’s report on the filing.