ViacomCBS sells ‘Black Rock’ headquarters in NYC for $760M

ViacomCBS has sold CBS’ original Midtown Manhattan headquarters, known as “Black Rock,” to real estate investment firm Harbor Group International for $760 million.

The deal, which was announced late Monday, comes nearly two years after the media company merged Viacom and CBS. Soon after, the newly combined firm put the 36-story black granite skyscraper, located at 51 W. 52nd St., up for sale.

The owner-occupied ViacomCBS said it will now lease back property on a short-term basis with the transaction set to close before the end of 2021.

The deal, which marks the first sale of the CBS headquarters since it opened in 1964, is a way for ViacomCBS to unload non-core assets as it focuses on building its movie and film offering for its streaming unit in order to compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney. Case in point: Last year, the firm sold CNET and Simon & Schuster to finance its growing streaming business, which includes Paramount+ and Showtime.

“This agreement follows the previously announced strategic review of non-core assets that we completed shortly after our merger,” Naveen Chopra, executive VP and CFO at ViacomCBS, said in a statement.

Before the pandemic hit, Wall Street analysts had initially estimated that Black Rock could bring in over $1 billion. Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar projected the headquarters “could be worth $700 million to $1.2 billion.”