As Governor Phil Murphy continues his efforts to attract film and television production to New Jersey, the state’s Economic Development Authority today approved a partnership with a $1 billion-plus, 22-stage studio complex in the Bergen Point neighborhood of Bayonne, New Jersey. Jersey is to be built on the site of a former Texaco oil refinery.
The project will break ground in the fall, said Arpad Busson, the New York-based French financier whose Togus Urban Renewal is leading the project along with Britain’s Rothschild and New York-based Moore Group. He said construction would take two years. Designed by the Gensler architectural firm, the 1.5 million square foot structure, named 1888 Studios after the year in which New Jersey native Thomas Edison filed a patent for the motion picture camera, is intended to evoke images from Hollywood’s Golden Age – On-site production services, security, and a park and waterfront promenade open to the public.
This is the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (NJEDA) first so-called Film-Lease Partner Facility, a designation that allows an increased tax credit for productions filmed there at above-average costs. The Production Tax Credit (which runs through 2039) is a competitive 35% with an additional increase for diversity.
The loans attracted companies. Great Point Studios is building Lionsgate Studios Newark following the Robert Halmi-led company’s successful Lionsgate Studios Yonkers project. This five-stage project with full production services received NJEDA’s first Studio Partner award and is scheduled to open in fall 2025.
Netflix plans to build a roughly $900 million production studio on nearly 300 acres of land that is home to the former Fort Monmouth military base.
Busson tells Deadline that, like other financiers and developers, he was affected by the lack of production sound stages as production exploded in recent years, led by Netflix and then other networks. Although production has cooled somewhat, he believes there will still be demand in areas with good tax credits and a strong crew base – in this case built over years to serve production in New York City. He said he believes the new studio, when completed, will be the largest in the state, the tri-state area and the Northeast.
Discussions with anchor tenants and others could begin now, he said. Busson, who was engaged to Uma Thurman several years ago before the couple’s split, has dabbled in film financing, the last project being Walter Salles in 2012 On the wayan adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s legendary novel Beat Generation.
“The increasing development of film studios in New Jersey is evidence that the state is one of the best in the region
Incentives and a wealth of local talent are helping transform the Garden State into the Northeast capital of film and entertainment,” said Governor Murphy. “Designating 1888 Studios as a film leasing partner facility will open the door for more production companies to film in New Jersey, helping to support local small businesses and communities and creating thousands of good-paying jobs.”
“Governor Phil Murphy’s revival of New Jersey’s film and digital media tax credit program has helped
“The state is a center of film and media production, attracting hundreds of millions in revenue and creating thousands of good-paying jobs,” said Tim Sullivan, NJEDA Chief Executive Officer. “Today’s designation of 1888 Studios as a Film Leasing Partner Facility underscores how the state’s generous incentives, diversity of local talent and diverse filming locations are attracting development of premier studio space and transforming the regional economy.”