Viacom explores sale of CBS HQ
NEW YORK: Black Rock, the modernist skyscraper designed by Eero Saarinen that has been CBS headquarters for more than half a century and symbolised the network’s invincibility, is being considered for a sale.
The 36-storey tower, clad in lighterasing black granite at 51 West 52nd St in Manhattan, could be sold as part of a larger review of the company’s real estate holdings, Robert Bakish, the chief executive officer of ViacomCBS, announced on Monday at an investor conference.
The company has hired the real estate investment firm CBRE Group to evaluate the entire roster of buildings, offices and studios.
“We believe that is a very material financial asset,” Bakish said of Black Rock at the conference, which was put on by UBS. “We also believe it is not an asset we need to own and, in fact, that value can be put to better use elsewhere.”
The additional cash could be used to buy back more stock, an artificial way to raise the value of shares.
CBS merged with its sibling company, Viacom, last week in a $25 billion deal that united the country’s largest television network with the Paramount film studios and a clutch of cable channels that include MTV and Comedy Central.
The newly-combined entity anticipates $500 million in cost savings, largely from job cuts, but they could also come from the sales of properties in New York and Los Angeles.
Last year, CBS sold CBS Television City, the Los Angeles home to 1970s shows like All in the Family and The Carol Burnett Show and, these days, The Late Late Show With James Corden and Survivor reunions and finales, to a real estate developer for $750 million.
Black Rock was built by William Paley, the hard-charging businessman who turned a network of faltering radio stations into the respected broadcaster that came to be known as the Tiffany Network.
He enlisted Saarinen to design the 491-foot (150-metre) structure, but the architect died in 1961, before construction was complete.
In addition to Black Rock, a nickname it picked up because of its hue, the CBS building has been called the House That Paley Built. It opened its doors in 1964 and has stood as the headquarters for CBS ever since.
The building has been considered for a sale before, including in 2000 when Viacom, led by Sumner Redstone, acquired CBS.
The two companies were split apart in 2006, only to rejoin last week.
The building stands among Saarinen’s best-known creations, which also include the TWA terminal at Kennedy International Airport, which was recently remodeled and reopened as a hotel.