One of Queens' most storied production hubs is suddenly on the brink of a major shakeup, as Deutsche Bank has gone to court asking for permission to foreclose on Kaufman Astoria Studios after the current owners failed to repay a $340 million acquisition loan that came due last November. With interest, late fees and exit charges piled on, the bank says the mortgage has ballooned to roughly $359 million, and the filing now puts the main Astoria studio campus and several nearby lots in play, along with the futures of production tenants and local crews who depend on the complex.
Filing lays out the debt and defendants
According to a New York State Courts filing in Queens County Supreme Court, the loan was originated on Nov. 8, 2021 with an original principal balance of $340,000,000 and was not repaid by its Nov. 9, 2025 maturity date. Deutsche Bank’s New York branch, acting as agent, says $359,106,189.45 was outstanding as of March 26, 2026. The complaint names borrowers and guarantors including Hackman Capital Partners, Affinius Capital, HCP Studio Fund and Michael D. Hackman. The suit asks the court to authorize a foreclosure sale of the mortgaged parcels and also seeks deficiency relief if the sale proceeds fail to cover the full debt.
Deal background and big tenants
Hackman Capital and partner Affinius bought the Kaufman Astoria campus during a pandemic-era studio buying spree, paying up for a historic Queens lot just as streaming platforms were racing to lock in sound stages. The complex has since attracted major tenants, including a roughly 90,000-square-foot lease for Apple TV+, as The Real Deal reported. That combination, a pricey acquisition financed with a large, short-term loan, now sits at the center of the investor fight spilling into Queens court.
Hackman's recent defaults raise stakes
The Queens foreclosure push comes on the heels of other debt trouble for Hackman. The firm recently handed over control of Los Angeles’ Radford Studio Center after defaulting on an approximately $1.1 billion mortgage, a move covered by Bloomberg. That episode put a spotlight on how production slowdowns and higher borrowing costs have been squeezing studio owners and their lenders alike.
Why lenders are nervous
Industry data point to weaker stage demand than in the boom days a few years back. FilmLA sound-stage occupancy reports show utilization running well below pre-pandemic highs, leaving highly leveraged studio deals exposed when big loans hit maturity. With stage supply still growing while production volumes remain uneven, short-term, high-leverage financing has become a far riskier bet for both owners and creditors.
What the suit seeks
Beyond the request for a foreclosure sale, Deutsche Bank’s complaint asks the court to enforce several guaranties tied to the loan, including a Payment Guaranty that, according to the filing, required roughly $18,500,000 upon default, money the suit says was never paid. The documents also spell out how the original $340 million note was sliced into pieces and assigned to multiple noteholders, with Starwood and Goldman Sachs listed as holders of portions of the debt and Deutsche Bank serving as the agent empowered to enforce the loan on their behalf.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment, and Hackman and Affinius did not immediately respond to requests for comment, as reported after the filing. The bank is now asking the state court to set a sale timeline which, if approved, could lead to a lender-led auction that transfers the complex to the noteholders or a new buyer. For Astoria’s production ecosystem, the outcome will determine whether the fabled lot stays under its current operators or moves into an uncertain new chapter of ownership.
