National Resources Scores $230M Refi for Major Film Studio

Lionsgate Studios Yonkers. Image courtesy of JLL

National Resources has secured a $230 million refinancing for the 500,000-square-foot Lionsgate Studios Yonkers, a film production complex in Yonkers, N.Y.

JLL represented the borrower in the transaction. The owner will use the financing to repay the $29.3 million construction loan provided by Sterling National Bank for the development’s first phase, as well as to build the project’s latest component.

National Resources has teamed up with Lionsgate and Great Point Capital Management in the studio venture that owns the project. The first phase of Lionsgate Studios Yonkers opened in January 2022, when Great Point Capital Management also revealed the plan of a $500 million expansion which will turn the project into the largest modern-built film and television production campus in the Northeast. This expansion is scheduled to be completed in phases, with total completion planned for December 2023, according to a Lionsgate press release from January 2022.

Even bigger plans for the Yonkers studio

Upon completion, the 1 million-square-foot development will feature the highest number of 20,000-square-foot stages on one campus in the Northeast. Overall, the development will have 11 soundstages, eight 20,000-square-foot stages, two 10,000-square-foot stages and a 30,000-square-foot stage. Parking for more than 750 cars and 100 trucks will also be available. Apart from the stages, the development is slated to feature post-production facilities, screening rooms, office space and support space. Long-term tenants at the property include companies such as Lionsgate, Mediapro and Syracuse University.

Located at 28 Wells Ave., the film production complex is on the Hudson River in downtown Yonkers, surrounded by multiple retail, dining and entertainment options, and within walking distance from the new Saw Mill River Plaza and Yonkers’ new Metro North Railroad station.

The JLL team that represented the borrower was led by Managing Directors Michael Zaremski and Michael Shmuely, Vice President John Flynn, and Associate Jimmy Cochran.

Last January, JLL brokered the sale of another studio property. The CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles then traded for $1.85 billion.