Netflix will spend $55 million and invest around $800 million more to acquire part of a former military base near Oceanport, New Jersey, with plans to build a complex of studios and production facilities in the Garden State.
The streaming company was revealed as the winner of a multi-part bid for the Fort Monmouth Mega Parcel. Netflix will invest as much as $850 million building multiple sound stages, production facilities, offices and other infrastructure on the 300-acre plot of land that once served as part of a U.S. Army post.
The initial investment will be met with between $7 billion and $8 billion in production and construction spending over the next two decades, Netflix officials affirmed, which could generate between $3 billion and $4 billion in economic revenue for New Jersey during that same time.
Rajiv Dalal, Netflix’s director of content and studio affairs, told the Asbury Park Press newspaper that the New Jersey production facility will serve as its flagship East Coast production hub. It takes about an hour to travel by car between Fort Monmouth and New York City, which means Netflix will have a key location to attract talent and crew who already live and work in the Tri-State area.
“This transformative investment will serve as a cornerstone in our efforts to create a thriving industry from whole cloth,” Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey said in a press release. “As a result of nearly a billion dollars in film production spending, New Jersey will further solidify its status as an emerging national leader in the television and film industries.”
The New Jersey production facility is expected to be similar to one Netflix built with land it acquired in northern New Mexico nearly five years ago. In 2020, Netflix said it planned to spend $1 billion building around a dozen sound stages and supporting offices near Albuquerque, a move that was praised by local officials.
Netflix said the New Mexico investment would generate around 2,000 jobs for the local economy. The New Mexico Film Office estimates Netflix helped generate as many as 5,000 cast and crew jobs between 2019 and 2021.
