Netflix plans to build production facility at the Jersey Shore
The studio would become Netflix’s second-largest production complex behind a New Mexico site it purchased in 2018.
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Netflix could soon set up shop at the Jersey Shore with a massive production complex.
The streaming service was recently chosen as the top bidder for a nearly 300-acre plot of land in Eatontown and Oceanport, the New York Times reports. The site formerly housed the Fort Monmouth Army base, which was closed in 2011, and is about 80 miles from Philadelphia.
The deal is not yet final, and Netflix did not publicly announce the amount of its bid for the property. But if the company closes the deal, it plans to “build a facility that will create significant economic impact and job growth for New Jersey,” Netflix said in a statement.
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The studio would become Netflix’s second-largest production complex behind a New Mexico site it purchased in 2018. The company also opened a 170,000-square-foot studio in Brooklyn last year.
“We are thrilled to hear that Netflix is interested in establishing a serious presence in New Jersey and look forward to working with them and the rest of the industry to create good-paying jobs and spur economic growth throughout the state,” Gov. Phil Murphy said.
News of the potential production complex comes amid a somewhat tumultuous year for the streaming giant. Over the summer, the company announced it had lost about a million subscribers in the second quarter of the year. In the first quarter, it announced a loss of 200,000 subscribers, which drove the company’s stock down by about 37% in a day, NPR reported.
The site has been appraised at about $54 million by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, the Times reports. Other developers have offered in excess of $100 million for 89 acres of the former base’s 1,126-acre spread.
If the deal does go through, Netflix’s studio wouldn’t be the first on the former Army base’s grounds. During World War II, special-effects pioneer Harry Redmond Jr. (of King Kong fame) designed a studio there for the Army Film Training Lab.