Santa Fe Studios Sale Puts New Mexico’s Flagship Production Campus on the Market

The Santa Fe Studios sale formally began this week as CBRE listed the 65-acre campus for acquisition.

Built in 2011 and totaling 79,550 square feet of soundstages, Class-A offices and a 17,000-square-foot warehouse, the turnkey facility sits inside a designated media district 15 minutes south of downtown Santa Fe.

A price is available only on request, but CBRE is pitching the asset as a “generational opportunity” to buy a fully entitled studio in one of the nation’s most incentive-rich jurisdictions. CBRE

Why It Matters for New Mexico

Hollywood’s Southwestern hub hit a record $1.5 billion in direct spending during fiscal 2022, yet production days and payroll fell in FY 2024-25 after the dual strikes and lingering macro jitters.

The Santa Fe Studios sale therefore doubles as a referendum on whether investors still believe New Mexico can regain its growth curve. CBRE is leaning hard on the state’s up-to-40 percent tax credit—plus an extra 5 percent boost for projects shot inside the studio’s media district—to sweeten the underwriting. KOB.com Yahoo

Competitive Inventory

Netflix Albuquerque Studios: 10 stages, fully leased.
Gray Peak Studios (under construction): 3 stages, opens 2026.
Stagecoach Foundation (Santa Fe): Non-profit, frequently booked out.

In other words, available, built-out space at scale is scarce. That scarcity underpins the valuation for the Santa Fe Studios sale even as industry volumes wobble.

Track Record of the Campus

Since its ribbon-cutting, the property has hosted projects for Netflix, Disney, Sony and Warner Bros., plus series such as Walker: Independence and the Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The Hool family—CEO Lance Hool and brother Conrad—have run day-to-day operations since 2006 and will sell the campus vacant, giving a buyer freedom to operate or re-tenant immediately. CoStar CBRE

Expansion Headroom

Entitlements are already in place for a phase-two build-out: additional stages, post-production bays, and even hospitality or retail pads. With streaming budgets shifting toward cost-efficient regional hubs, the ability to add square footage without starting a new entitlement clock is a strategic edge. CBRE’s marketing deck shows conceptual drawings for:

Two extra 25,000-square-foot stages.
A 40-suite post village.
A 120-room crew hotel fronting the studio gate. CBRE

Investor Profiles in the Hunt

Owner-user streamers — Netflix, Amazon and Apple are still scouting controlled real estate to lock in stage access.
Infrastructure funds — Brookfield and Blackstone have both bought studios in the past 24 months as real-asset hedges.
REITs — Hudson Pacific and Hackman Capital favor tier-one markets but have hinted at secondary-market plays if incentives offset risk.

The Santa Fe Studios sale offers each buyer class a credible expansion site with a proven workforce pipeline attached to Santa Fe Community College’s film-tech program.

Risks and Rewards

Risk — Production slowdown: 2025 hours on set are still down versus 2022 levels.
Risk — Incentive caps: New Mexico’s annual refund cap sits at $130 million; if demand rebounds too fast, refunds queue up.
Reward — Backlot & broadband: A 57-acre backlot and redundant fiber lines mean lower set-build costs and minimal latency for virtual-production work.
Reward — Permitting: Projects inside the media district get expedited approvals, shaving weeks off prep schedules. CBRE

Industry Impact Statement

“This is a fully operational campus in a top-tier rebate state—assets like this surface once in a generation,”
Anthony Jasenski, CBRE National Studio Practice Leader. CBRE

Whether buyers bite at CBRE’s whisper price will telegraph broader sentiment about bricks-and-mortar studio deals post-strike. If the auction clears near peak multiples, it could rekindle dormant stage-construction plans from Atlanta to Austin. If not, landlords may need to reprice assets to a new, post-bubble baseline.

What Happens Next?

The listing went live July 15; initial bids are due mid-September. Insiders expect at least three rounds of offers, with exclusivity granted before Thanksgiving. Given the holiday timeline, the Santa Fe Studios sale could close just as New Mexico’s 2026 incentive budget hits the legislative floor—perfect timing for a new owner eager to market fresh stage capacity.