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One of Hollywood’s most storied production lots is about to be sold on the courthouse steps, and Netflix looks set to be the buyer. Radford Studio Center, the 55-acre Studio City lot formerly known as CBS Studio Center, is scheduled for a foreclosure auction on November 24 in Pomona, and Netflix is poised to acquire it at a steep discount, The Hollywood Reporter reported on November 11.
Netflix had been negotiating with Goldman Sachs-led lenders to buy the property for as much as $400 million, according to THR. That would be roughly 22% of the $1.85 billion Hackman Capital Partners paid for it in 2021.
Why is Radford Studio Center being auctioned?
Hackman Capital, along with partner Square Mile Capital, bought the lot from ViacomCBS at the height of the streaming boom, betting that demand for soundstages in Los Angeles would keep rising. Instead, production slowed, much of it moved out of California, and Hackman defaulted earlier this year on more than $1 billion in debt tied to the property. Lenders led by Goldman Sachs repossessed it about nine months ago.
Netflix’s private deal had been expected to close earlier in 2026, but no transaction was completed by the deadline, according to City News Service, citing THR. The auction is the route to transferring the property. MyNewsLA, also citing THR, reports lenders will seek about $1.3 billion at the sale, roughly the amount of debt on the lot, though that figure is the opening ask, not the expected sale price.
What Netflix has said
A Netflix spokesperson told THR the deal “is progressing on the agreed upon timetable.” The company has not publicly confirmed a price. THR noted a rival bidder could still emerge and push the price higher, though the pool of buyers for an L.A. production campus is believed to be small given how little filming is happening in the region. The Real Deal also reported that the city’s transfer tax on a $400 million sale could be as high as $22 million.
Why Netflix wants the lot
Netflix currently leases Los Angeles production space at Sunset Studios and Raleigh Studios locations, with leases running through 2031, according to earlier THR reporting. Owning Radford would let it consolidate production in one place and give it the kind of permanent studio infrastructure Disney, Warner Bros. and Paramount have had for decades. It would also be the clearest signal yet that Netflix intends to keep a major production footprint in Hollywood, even as competitors cut back.
A short history of the Radford lot
- 1928: Silent comedy pioneer Mack Sennett opens the Studio City lot.
- 1930s to 1950s: It becomes Republic Studios, home of countless westerns and serials.
- 1963: CBS becomes the main tenant, buying the lot outright in 1967 for $9.5 million.
- TV era: Shows including Gilligan’s Island and Seinfeld were filmed there.
- 2021: Sold to Hackman Capital for $1.85 billion.
- 2026: Repossessed by lenders and headed to auction.
What it means for Hollywood
THR has described studio lot values across Los Angeles as cratering, and Radford is the starkest example: a property that changed hands for nearly $2 billion five years ago may now go for a few hundred million. For a city worried about runaway production, Netflix’s purchase would be mixed news, a big vote of confidence from the industry’s largest streamer, at a price that shows how much the market has fallen.
Netflix’s slate is busy in the meantime, with Danny Boyle’s Ink and The Age of Innocence among its upcoming releases.
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Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, The Real Deal, MyNewsLA, The Hollywood Reporter (lot values), Wikipedia