Less than a year after breaking ground at the former 289-acre Fort Monmouth site, the first phase of Netflix’s $1 billion production studio is already taking shape in Eatontown and Oceanport.
A recent report in NJ.com said that in the last 12 months, Netflix has torn down 85 former military buildings, clearing the way for the first four 22,000-square-foot soundstages, which will be in Oceanport at the fort’s 29-acre McAfee Zone. That portion of the project is slated to wrap up construction in 2027, but the report says that the shell of the first building has already been erected.
Netflix officially broke ground on the project in May 2025, but it was not until December that it finally closed on the parcel where the studio will be located. The streaming company paid $55 million for the parcel, which is slated to become its second-largest studio in the U.S., just behind its ABQ Studios facility in New Mexico.
A press release from last year’s groundbreaking says that the entire development will feature 12 soundstages totaling half a million square feet, along with additional areas dedicated to supporting film and community amenities.
The second phase of the production studio will be in Eatontown and is slated to begin later this year. It will consist of building the remaining eight soundstages.
Although it took Netflix more than five years to break ground on the project, the new production facility has received both symbolic and financial backing from Trenton since it was first proposed in 2020. Former Governor Phil Murphy and Governor Mikie Sherrill have both touted the project as a transformative venture for all of Monmouth County.
The Economic Development Authority announced in December that it had awarded a $387 million tax credit through its Aspire program. That award came just a few months after the EDA granted another financial incentive package through its Film and Digital Media Tax Credit program, which could make the streaming giant eligible for a 40% base tax credit for qualified production expenses on future New Jersey film projects, as long as Netflix commits to occupying the facility in Fort Monmouth for at least 10 years.
Records from the planning board for the borough of Oceanport state that Netflix will also build a 61,800-square-foot workshop building known as a ‘mill building,’ as well as renovate the 9,696-square-foot building that serves as an office for the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority. The 92,000-square-foot McAfee Center will also be renovated.
The borough made public the site plan for the next phase of the project in Oceanport in October. That phase will renovate five existing buildings, which will span a combined 40,168 square feet after construction, and will be used as storage and warehouse buildings.
Jersey Digs reported in March that Netflix began advertising senior roles based out of its new location in Monmouth County. The job listing can be viewed on the Jersey Digs Job Board.
Although officials and locals have repeatedly raised concerns about potential noise complaints and traffic, the project will undoubtedly reinvigorate the former army site, which dates back to World War I but has mostly lain fallow since the base shut down in 2011. The entire project is expected to bring in over 1,500 permanent jobs to Monmouth County and add thousands of construction jobs.
