CBS Sells Black Rock

Am internal memo went out to the staff at CBS from CBS CEO George Cheeks, informing them that the company as agreed to sell their building in New York City for nearly $800 million bucks.

CBS will lease back the building, often referred to as “Black Rock” from the new owner.

Here is the internal memo sent to the staff and obtained by FTVLive:

CBS Colleagues –

I want you to be aware of an announcement that ViacomCBS just made.

As you know, one element of the Company’s strategic plan is to divest non-core assets like real estate and direct that value to priorities such as creating more of our best-in-class content. We announced last year that our Black Rock headquarters would be one of the assets we’d explore selling.

While the pandemic delayed the potential sale of Black Rock, we have now agreed to terms with Harbor Group International on a sale that will close by the end of the year. As part of the transaction, we have agreed to lease back space in the building for two years so there won’t be an immediate impact on most of our colleagues that work at Black Rock.

I know Black Rock isn’t just any office building, and I understand the attachment that CBS employees have to it. Some of you have worked your entire careers at 51 West 52nd Street. It’s an architectural icon and a bona fide New York City landmark that CBS has owned since it opened in 1964.

The very notion of where and how we work has obviously changed a lot over the past 17 months and we know it will continue to evolve. While we’re still at least two months away from returning to Black Rock as part of the hybrid Green Phase in our return-to-office plan, I’m certainly glad that our time in the building isn’t coming to an end just yet.

Below please find the press release that was distributed earlier announcing the sale.

George