Production will return to the former Telemundo Studios
A company that packages and distributes coffee bought the former Telemundo Studios. And it’s one of several stakeholders helping bring video production activity back into the space.
AFE Airport West Coffee LLC bought the two-story, 81,765-square-foot building in Hialeah at 7355 NW 41 St. for $5.65 million in early November from the family of the late developer Frank D. Tolin. It signed a five-year lease with content creator Miami-based Cachita Universal Studio. David L. Rosen, a broker with WestVest Associates, represented the seller and
Jorge H. Sordo, a broker with Sorlan Realty Inc., represented the buyer.
The most recent comparable commercial sale occurred in January, when the 96,677-square-foot Class B industrial building at 3353 NW 74 Ave. sold for $10.5 million. The industrial space sold for about $108 a square foot, compared to the former Telemundo Studios and Class B, industrial facility which sold for about $70 a square foot.
Amazon will lease the Telemundo Studios 3.2acre parking lot, which is not included in the sale. The parking lot is bordered by Northwest 36 St. and Northwest 41 St.
Telemundo relocated in 2018 to 2350 NW 117th
Place in Doral, consolidating operations in the new-built $250 million Telemundo Center.
The Tolin family “wanted to keep it as a film and television production studio, because there was so much infrastructure in place,” said Rosen.
Over two years, Rosen contacted hundreds of people in the entertainment business, including producers and location scouts. But since Florida cut its film incentive program several years ago, the local film production business has struggled to survive.
Miami saw its film and television glory days about 20 years ago. Between 1994 and 1996, an average of 15 feature-length films were shot in the Magic City each year. That number went down in the early 2000s as Hollywood turned to filming in Canada, thanks to incentives and a favorable currency exchange rate. Since then, most states, including Georgia, have attracted production back with incentives but others have done little to spark interest, including Florida, Texas and Michigan.
AFE Airport West Coffee LLC contacted Rosen earlier this year. The buyers originally sought to convert the facility into a manufacturing and distribution hub but since decided to lease it as a video facility.
There were a lot of reasons to lease the space, said Cachita Universal Studios CFO Julio Sera. “The building is a historic landmark for production,” he said.
The proximity to the Palmetto Expressway as well as the layout of the facility were also pluses.
The production house Cachita opened about a year ago and has worked to produce its own content and that of third parties. It will launch EnTV, a digital channel with original content, from its new space. The building houses five multi-use studios totaling about 31,500 square feet that can be adapted for film production, concerts, corporate events and music videos, eight sound production rooms, 13,000 square feet of warehouse space, two large conference rooms and over 40 offices on the second floor. It will give the company room to grow, Sera said.
Tolin began adapting the warehouse space in 1982, creating the state’s largest film and television commercial studio of its time, called Limelight Studios. The $26 million renovation was completed in 1989.