Plans for the new Netflix studio campus at Fort Monmouth call for soundstages ranging in size from 15,000 to 40,000 square feet, with a total buildout ranging from 180,000 to 480,000 square feet, along with improvements and uses associated with principal film use. — Renderings courtesy: Netflix
By Joshua Burd
Netflix has secured two key local approvals for its plan to build a nearly $1 billion studio complex at Fort Monmouth, as it awaits a vote this week on what’s poised to be a lucrative tax credit incentive under the state’s Aspire program.
Published reports say the Eatontown planning board this week granted site plan approval for the project’s first phase — which would include four soundstages, each of them 70 feet tall, as well as ancillary buildings. The vote came some three weeks after officials in Oceanport, where most of the initial project would be located, gave their own approval of the streaming giant’s application.
“We are pleased that the Eatontown Planning Board sanctioned plans for Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth’s first phase, and we look forward to our continued collaboration with local officials and the community to bring this studio to life,” a Netflix representative said Monday in a statement provided to NJ Advance Media.
The company is now slated to appear this week before the state Economic Development Authority in connection with the high-profile Aspire tax credit program for gap financing. According to the agenda for the EDA’s Dec. 19 board meeting, Netflix has requested an incentive package “for a single-phased Transformative Film project” in Fort Monmouth that would equal up to 50 percent of the total project cost.
The authority does not disclose award amounts prior to its board meetings, but the package is poised to be significant. The EDA since last December has approved two $400 million tax credit awards for what are considered “transformative” projects under the Aspire law, including one for the planned 1.5 million-square-foot 1888 Studios complex on the Bayonne waterfront.
Netflix is under contract to buy more than 290 acres at Fort Monmouth, roughly a quarter of the 1,126-acre former U.S. Army base, where its plans call for developing more than 1 million square feet including 12 soundstages, backlot areas, an office building and other production support facilities. According to the Asbury Park Press, the first phase will occupy 29 acres and include two standalone soundstages of roughly 22,000 square feet each and two additional soundstages that are adjoined by a wall and will occupy 83,555 square feet.
Gov. Phil Murphy, who is widely credited with luring Netflix to the state, has championed the project for more than two years as part of a broader effort to build up the state’s film and television sector. He visited Fort Monmouth last fall alongside company co-CEO Ted Sarandos, following the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority’s approval to amend its master redevelopment plan for the project.
“Netflix’s historic investment in Fort Monmouth’s future, which will generate thousands of union jobs and significant revenue, is a testament to our broader strategy when it comes to establishing New Jersey as the Northeastern home for film and entertainment,” Murphy said at the time. “This campus is no longer a painful reminder of economic decline and disinvestment. Instead, Fort Monmouth now stands as a symbol of renewal and revived hope. With this facility, many of our hardworking and talented residents will have the opportunity to participate in the film and television industry right here in our state while local businesses will benefit from an increase in customers. I thank Netflix and our partners in both government and labor for their support in advancing this crucial project.”
Murphy visits Fort Monmouth as plan for Netflix campus heads to public comment
