New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is touting a deal to transform the long-shuttered Fort Monmouth army base into a Netflix film and television production studio with 12 soundstages and a backlot — a project that will cost the streaming service nearly $1 billion to build.
“This campus is no longer going to be a painful reminder of economic decline and disinvestment,” Murphy said at a press conference Friday. “Instead, Fort Monmouth now will stand as a symbol of renewed and revived hope.”
Murphy said the investment by Netflix will provide thousands of union jobs, constructing the massive studio and then working on its sound stages. It’s part of a film and TV production strategy that Murphy ushered by boosting tax credits to the industry and that has resulted in plans for new studios by Lionsgate Films in Newark and for the 1888 Studios lot in Bayonne.
The governor is contending with a string of bad news that’s emerged in the weeks before state legislative elections next Tuesday, including an offshore wind developer announcing it would pull out of major projects off the Jersey Shore and an unflattering story about Murphy’s use of a taxpayer-funded expense account for personal spending at MetLife Stadium.
The press conference at Fort Monmouth was held to highlight a fairly minor procedural step toward building the Netflix facility: signing meeting minutes for the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, which has proposed an amendment to its redevelopment plan for the site, including provisions for affordable housing. That amendment now goes to the two towns the project spans — Oceanport and Eatontown — for their feedback and public comment before returning to the revitalization authority for approval.
By the governor’s side were many local and legislative leaders, most notably State Sen. Vin Gopal, (D-Monmouth), who is facing a tough reelection challenge on Tuesday.
“My mom worked at that fort and I had a lot of memories going there as a kid,”…
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