New Jersey’s fast-growing film and television industry has created a boom in studio construction and a new market for commercial spaces that can serve as set locations, as state officials take new steps to help more municipalities reap the benefits.
Out of the shadows
In this month’s cover story we highlights the plan to restore and reactivate the property’s long-dormant and long-vacant ferry terminal. The master development team at LCOR envisions it as a unique destination for commuters, city residents and visitors — and as the centerpiece of the plan called Hoboken Connect — which became clearer after I recently toured the space with the firm’s Brian Barry. The building’s second floor, with its 21-foot ceiling heights and a large, column-less floorplate stretching nearly 500 feet, has all the makings of such a destination and the potential to achieve one of LCOR and NJ Transit’s top objectives: opening the terminal to the public while enhancing the commuter experience.
Inside the deal to create Newark’s ‘mini-Hollywood’ at new $125 million studio complex
Plans to build a $125 million television and film production studio in Newark’s South Ward are expected to help cement efforts to build a durable infrastructure for the industry in New Jersey. They’re also the culmination of decades of wishful thinking in the city and, more recently, years of complicated deal-making that involved some of state’s biggest players, including Gov. Phil Murphy, as part of an aggressive push to attract productions and studio operations.