Blackstone, Hudson Pacific, Vornado to Build West Side Studio

Blackstone, Hudson Pacific and Vornado are forming a public-private partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corp. to build a new waterfront film production studio on Manhattan’s West Side.

The three partners announced this week they will invest $350M in Sunset Pier 94 Studios, which will rise on Pier 94 on the Hudson River.

Vornado, who contributed its long-term leasehold for Pier 94 to the venture, will own 49.9% of the project; Hudson Pacific will own 25.6%; and Blackstone will own 24.5%, according to a release issued on Tuesday.

Vornado will be responsible for development and Hudson Pacific will provide design oversight and manage the facility’s leasing and operations. The 266K SF studio will feature six soundstages and 145K SF of support space and offices as well as 25K SF of waterfront open space and pier access.

The studio facilities will be powered by 100% renewable energy. Several stages will have technological infrastructure for adaptation to virtual production, the release said.

“Our partnership with Blackstone, Hudson Pacific, and the City of New York will solidify New York as a leading market for content production and studio space, create jobs, drive economic momentum, and deliver a host of amenities to the surrounding community,” said Vornado President Michael Franco, in a statement.

“This project will bring critical, long-awaited investment to this public asset, turn an underutilized space into an economic driver and improve public space and quality of life for New Yorkers,” Mayor Eric Adams said, in a statement.

The NYC EDC is estimating that the studio project will have an economic impact of $6.4B over the next 30 years. The city’s backing and a $183M construction financing package led by RBC will jumpstart the project, which is expected to begin construction next month and be completed by the end of 2025.

The new studio will be the first New York location for Hudson Pacific and Blackstone’s growing global studio platform. Including the Manhattan project, Sunset Studios will have 69 soundstages at six-purpose-built production facilities in Los Angeles, London and New York.

Hudson Pacific’s Quixote brand operates an additional 26 stages in Los Angeles and New Orleans; the brand also services productions in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans and Albuquerque.

The voracious appetite of streaming companies for new content has made the film production industry one of the hottest real estate sectors in the past three years, with a bevy of new projects in Los Angeles, New York and emerging hubs in New Jersey and Georgia.

A joint venture of Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital purchased two of the largest NYC film production campuses. In 2020, the venture bought Silvercup Studios, with facilities in Queens and the Bronx, for $500M; in 2021, the partners acquired Kaufman Astoria Studios.

A partnership between actor Robert De Niro, his son Raphael and developer Wildflower is nearing completion on a new studio in Astoria.