UK’s Sunset Waltham Cross Studios plan “no longer feasible,” say owners

The proposed US owner of the Sunset Waltham Cross Studio Project near London is currently investigating other uses for the site, according to the local council of Hertfordshire Town, where the £700 million development was built.

A statement posted to the Borough of the Broxbourne website on March 17 says that Hudson Pacific Properties and Blackstone, the joint venture partners behind the project, “we have notified the council that they are seeking alternative uses for the site.”

The statement said, “We share the disappointment (of the Council) that studio development cannot be realized at this point at this time. We are determined to work with the Council to ensure the best alternative uses of the site to support the economic prosperity of our communities.”

Representatives from the U.S. Hudson Pacific Properties did not respond to requests for comment at the time of the press conference.

First unveiled in 2021, Sunset Waltham Cross Studio was a 1.2m square foot facility with 21 soundstages and offices, workshops and production support. The project was billed to donate £300 million a year to the local economy and create 4,500 jobs.

The site’s development was suspended in 2023 as the end of the peak television boom and the strike of Hollywood actors and writers reduced the level of film and television production.

The development would have been the first outside the US expansion of Hudson’s Sunset Studio Group, which operates four studio sites in Los Angeles and recently began construction at Sunset Pier 94 Studios in New York City.

Broxbourne’s Statement Borough states that the site will be assigned as a “strategic employment site” and that the council will “work closely with the owners to ensure that future use is in line with its allocation.”

Council leader Mark Mills Bishop said, “We are extremely disappointed to learn that the planned Sunset Studios facilities will not progress. We understand that the market situation is not in favor of the new UK film studios. Opportunities for the residents of Brocksborne.”