Developers Shine Spotlight on New Jersey

Rendering of upcoming film and production studios. Image courtesy of Columbia Pacific Advisors

A strategic alliance between Criterion Group and One Stop Properties will acquire two warehouses in Jersey City, N.J., and reposition them into state-of-the-art film and production studios with a $48.3 million loan provided by Columbia Pacific Advisors Bridge Lending, a platform within Columbia Pacific Advisors.

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The alliance, INDUSTRY GO, will use the funds to buy the properties at 14-16 Burma Road and 150 Theodore Conrad Drive and convert them into 180,777 square feet of Class A production studio space. The properties are located within a block of each other and two blocks from Caven Point Studios, a new 135,000-square-foot production studio that is currently being completed by a partnership between Criterion Group and Simi Capital. In April 2019, Columbia Pacific Advisors closed on a $24.9 million acquisition and reposition loan for the partnership to purchase the industrial building at 21 Craven Point Ave. The properties are located less than 3 miles from the Holland Tunnel and are part of the Port Industrial submarket serving as a distribution hub for Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York.

INDUSTRY GO is planning to turn 14-16 Burma Road into 110,308 square feet of studio space and 150 Theodore Conrad Drive into a studio with 70,569 square feet. Both will have a minimum height of 50 feet. Planned renovations include a full structural reinforcement, raising the roof heights, repowering and adding new HVAC systems.

Will Nelson, senior vice president of real estate lending at Columbia Pacific Advisors, said in a prepared statement the need for studio production space in the New York metropolitan area is continuing to grow due to an increase in demand for new film and television content. Chris Sullivan, vice president of global acquisitions at INDUSTRY GO, also pointed to New Jersey’s tax credit incentives for studio owners and production companies for creating opportunities for developers.

Late last year, Criterion Group received a $28 million loan from Columbia Pacific Advisors Bridge Lending to refinance the development of a 51,426-square-foot self-storage facility in Long Island City, N.Y. That project is slated for completion by 2021.