#ViacomCBS puts historic CBS Studios lot up for sale

ViacomCBS is putting its historic CBS Studio Center lot in Studio City on the block.

CBS’s 38-acre campus on Radford Avenue, dubbed the “Radford Lot,” has been home over the years to such popular TV shows as “Seinfeld,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Gunsmoke” and “Big Brother.”

ViacomCBS chief executive George Cheeks told employees of the potential sale in a memo late Monday, adding that the media giant has tapped commercial real estate firm JLL to investigate all options for the space.

He said the move “aligns with our strategy to divest non-core assets like real estate and direct that value to priorities such as creating more of our best-in-class content.” The CEO assured staffers that the company would have adequate capacity for broadcast and studio production. The company runs Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures as well.

The sale of the lot comes a week after ViacomCBS sold CBS’ original Midtown Manhattan headquarters, known as “Black Rock,” to real estate investment firm Harbor Group International for $760 million.

Since CBS and sister company Viacom merged in December 2019, the firm has shed duplicate assets, as it focuses on building its movie and film offerings for its streaming unit in order to compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney. Case in point: Last year, the firm sold CNET and Simon & Schuster to finance its growing streaming business, which includes Paramount+ and Showtime.

The Radford lot, which houses 18 soundstages, has been a staple of show business for decades. Silent film producer and director Mack Sennett opened it in 1928. Soon after, it became best known for television.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg.