New Jersey officials and Paramount Pictures broke ground in December 2025 on 1888 Studios, a 1.6-million-square-foot film and TV campus on a 58-acre waterfront site in Bayonne’s Bergen Point neighborhood.
The facility sits less than 30 minutes from Manhattan and will feature 23 sound stages, 10 acres of basecamp, a 22-acre water backlot, mill and storage buildings, plus on-site parking.
Paramount signed a 10-year anchor lease for more than 285,000 square feet, locking in a major East Coast hub. The $1.2 billion project positions New Jersey as Hollywood’s top rival on the coast, capitalizing on the state’s film tax credits and Edison-era legacy—the name nods to 1888, when Thomas Edison filed his motion picture camera patent.
The project will break ground this fall, said Arpad Busson, the New York-based French financier whose Togus Urban Renewal is spearheading the project along with Rothschild in the UK and New York-based Moore Group. He said construction will take two years. Called 1888 Studios, after the year New Jersey-native Thomas Edison filed a patent for the motion picture camera, the 1.5 million square feet structure designed by architecture firm Gensler will look to evoke imagery of Golden Age Hollywood, spanning 55 acres and including comprehensive on-site production services, security, and a waterfront park and promenade accessible to the public. – Deadline
Construction is active. Crews target completion that adds thousands of union jobs and permanent production roles. This campus joins Netflix’s Fort Monmouth hub and Lionsgate Newark Studios in expanding regional capacity.
Lionsgate Newark is projected to create more than 600 long-term production jobs for the city of Newark along with an anticipated annual economic impact of more than $800 million. Seventy percent of full-time employment opportunities are planned to be reserved for Newark residents, who will also receive priority consideration when applying. – New York Yimby
If you’re looking for a studio now in NJ, check availability on Studio.Guide’s New Jersey directory.
