The loan on J.C. Studios, the television and film production studios where such daytime soaps as AS THE WORLD TURNS and ANOTHER WORLD (see photo from the 1970s) were taped (along with programs like THE COSBY SHOW), is up for sale, according to a source. The 100,500-square-foot property is in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.It is made up of two separate studios at 1268 14th St. and Avenue M, where it takes up an entire city block. Each studio has its own dressing rooms, office and storage space, as well as state-of-the art audio, lighting and pre- and post-production facility areas. The original loan for the site is valued at $20 million, according to public city records. The borrower, J.C.S. Realty, defaulted on the loan issued by Wachovia Bank last year, records show. Since then, the loan has been transferred to a special servicer, which recently retained brokerage Massey Knakal Realty Services to market the note, sources said. The identity of the special servicer could not be determined immediately.
Eric Greenfield, a first vice president of sales at Massey Knakal, who is marketing the non-performing loan, declined to comment when Crain's New York inquired about the situation.
The source old Crain's the outstanding balance on the loan is $17.3 million. There is no asking price for the note, but the deadline for bids is May 4. Four deep-discounted offers from real estate investors have been made on the note, the source said.
Since AS THE WORLD TURNS was canceled last year, J.C. Studio's owner has had a hard time finding a steady stream of income to cover the cost to maintain the property, the source said. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a new movie starring Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks, was recently filmed there. The movie, scheduled for release next year, is about a 9-year-old boy searching for a key that belonged to his father, who died on September 11, 2001.
The studio has been in operation since 1903, when the motion picture company Vitagraph opened it. The company was sold to Warner Bros. in the 1920s.
I spent many many happy times at that studio when working for AW. Very sad...end of an era.
ReplyDeleteJust another sad case of reality for soap operas. Just 20 years ago, that place was hopping. Now...there isn't even enough action to pay the bills.
ReplyDeleteSo that famous last scene of the world spinning from ATWT was filled there? I just watched that yesterday on TiVo...along with the last episode of GL. Wish I was old enough in the 70s to remember 16 soaps on at once. Wow.
I worked on AW at this studio. Such great memories! Sad to see it go.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to read this news. As a child my mother took me to see a quiz show that was taped there. Then later when I was in HS my friend's father knew the stage manager and they let us spend the whole summer of 1965 watching Another World inside the studio. We got to keep scripts and talk to the actors and we were amazed at how much smaller everything looked in person. I'll never forget that wonderful summer. I am old enough to remember when there were 16 soaps on the air and I tried my best to keep up with every one of them. So so sad to see the demise of this wonderful genre of entertainment.
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