CRE Sees Success With Studios

I’m going to admit something here. Please don’t judge.

I love the Netflix show Love Is Blind.

You’re judging me, aren’t you?

But anyway, this is a reality show where contestants talk and “fall in love” without seeing the other person, before getting engaged, moving in together and potentially getting married in a few weeks. It’s total trash, and it’s amazing.

I love to watch mindless TV shows—I can do it on my couch, eating snacks and scrolling on my phone. To horribly misquote Patrick Henry, “Give me streaming services or give me death.” Of course, it’s not just me who happily consumes tons of shows. Currently, there are about 1.8 billion subscriptions to video streaming services. That’s not to say people aren’t going to the movies, as well. (Um, anyone heard of a little movie called Barbie, which made $1.4 billion at the box office?) It seems like it’s a good time to be in show business.

It’s not surprising, then, that studios are looking to become the next asset class darling. Of course, the tax credit incentive programs don’t hurt. (New Jersey is getting in on the act, having introduced a new incentive program in 2023.) And some CRE developers and investors are taking note. Blackstone and Hudson Pacific Properties, for example, are developing projects under Sunset Studios. Companies are looking to build soundstages, office space and more.

“Studio operators have increasingly sought out modern, high-quality spaces enabled with the technology for productions,” Jacob Albers of Cushman & Wakefield told reporter Jeffrey Steele in “Zooming In on Studios.”

As long as people are demanding more content to consume on TV or in the movies, there will be a need for studio space, which makes it a sound investment for real estate professionals. Maybe there could even be a reality show following sassy CRE developers around from creation to completion of these studios.

I’d totally watch that.

Read the March 2024 issue of CPE.