A notable film and television soundstage complex in New Mexico is now on the market, testing buyers’ willingness to bet that Hollywood studios’ production spending won’t contract and may increase in the state.
Santa Fe Studios, a 65-acre property that includes two 19,275-square-foot soundstages along with an office complex and warehouse, has been newly placed for sale with commercial real estate giant CBRE. A listing price was not disclosed.
The studio facility — which was constructed in 2011 and opened with a ribbon-cutting featuring execs from Warner Bros., Disney, Sony, 20th Century and more — is currently led by CEO Lance Hool, a producer whose credits include Denzel Washington-actioner Man on Fire. The Hool family has owned and developed the property since 2006.
The studio had been the primary location for The CW’s Western series Walker: Independence and hosted shoots for Showtime’s Waco, Columbia’s firefighter movie Only the Brave, Netflix’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Godless, as well as many other titles.
Part of the sales pitch from CBRE is that the facility already has a longstanding agreement with studio equipment and production vendor The MBS Group. And Santa Fe Studios’ projects can take advantage of New Mexico’s film and TV tax incentive program, which is capped at $130 million this year. (The facility is also zoned in the media district of the state’s capital, which allows an additional 5 percent tax credit, CBRE notes. The facility is about a 20 minute drive from the New Mexico capitol building.)
As film and television projects migrate from California in search of the most lucrative incentives, New Mexico has become one of the beneficiaries. The state was the fourth-largest production hub in the U.S. in terms of total spend over a trailing 12-month period, per a report from ProdPro released this April.
Netflix has turbocharged the industry in the state since it acquired ABQ Studios in Albuquerque in 2018 then pledged a billion-dollar expansion to the complex two years later. Last year the streaming giant unveiled the expanded facility, which includes four new soundstages, on a 108-acre property.
But the content spending slowdown from major legacy studios in Hollywood has hit the state as well. In its most recent fiscal year, “New Mexico experienced a decrease in production to $323 million. This was primarily due to an industry-wide contraction in productions,” read an economic impact report by the state’s film office released on June 30.
In addition to its soundstages, Santa Fe Studios also includes 24,000-square-feet of production offices, a 17,000-square-foot warehouse, post-production and executive offices. “Santa Fe Studios is not only a proven production hub but also a future-ready platform for content creators, investors, and media operators,” stated Anthony Jasenski, CBRE’s National Film Production Studio Practice Leader, who reps the property.
Santa Fe Studios also touts an “expansive, permit open space that streamlines filming logistics” on its 65 acre campus.
CBRE