Netflix’s plan to buy the historic Radford Studio Center has stalled, and the pause exposes a sharper question for the streamer: how much Los Angeles production space does it actually need to own?
Hudson Pacific CEO Victor Coleman told analysts on Thursday that Netflix ‘has not closed the transaction’ and may not decide until later in the year. ‘Or not,’ he added, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The initial 90-day due diligence window has been extended, which signals the deal is being reconsidered rather than abandoned.
What’s on the table
The Radford purchase is estimated at $330 million to $400 million. Netflix is already Hudson Pacific’s third-largest tenant, leasing more than 700,000 square feet across the ICON, EPIC and CUE buildings at Sunset Studios, with those office leases scheduled to run to 2031.
- $330M-$400M: the estimated range for buying the Radford lot.
- 700,000+ sq ft: Netflix’s current Hudson Pacific office footprint.
- Three soundstage leases were terminated in the first half of the year, according to an August filing that did not name the tenants.
Hollywood real estate insiders still expect the sale to close, according to the report. But the hesitation makes sense. Filming levels in Los Angeles are near historic lows, and borrowing costs have risen since talk of the Radford deal surfaced in April. If Netflix finances part of a nine-figure purchase with debt, that deal just became more expensive to fund.
Why the delay matters
Netflix has also been cancelling some soundstage obligations with Hudson Pacific, which suggests it is serious about shifting from tenant to owner rather than simply negotiating better lease terms. Owning a sprawling campus gives control, but it also locks in fixed capacity at a moment when production has been flowing to states and countries with cheaper labour and richer filming subsidies.
For Hudson Pacific, the timing matters beyond the sale price. The company is trying to refinance its Hollywood media portfolio, a 2.2 million-square-foot collection of studio lots and offices, and recently pushed the maturity on a roughly $1.1 billion loan by a year. Executives said a longer-term refinancing strategy depends on clarity about Netflix’s space needs.
Coleman also cautioned that Radford cannot replace Netflix’s existing office footprint. Conversations about extending beyond 2031 continue, and he said some level of resolution could come by year-end.
What to watch
The most useful signal for industry watchers is Echelon, a $450 million studio opening later this year roughly a mile west of EPIC. Netflix has expressed interest in becoming a tenant there, according to a person familiar with the situation. That suggests the company is still hedging between owning and renting rather than making a clean break in either direction.
The Radford deal is not cancelled. It is paused, and the pause tells you Netflix is recalculating its Los Angeles footprint before it writes a nine-figure cheque.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
