New York sharpens pitch to become major US soundstage hub

One of the hottest backstage passes in New York City isn’t on Broadway, or even at a theater.

Victor Coleman, chairman and CEO of Los Angeles-based Hudson Pacific Properties, was surprised by the level of curiosity in the developer’s first film-and-TV production project outside California: Sunset Pier 94 Studios, Manhattan’s first purpose‑built studio campus.

“We’ve not seen the type of interest in our other facilities that we’ve had here in New York in any of the years, even in the peak moments … when production was proliferating,” Coleman said in an interview. “We’ve had more tours here than I can possibly imagine at any of our facilities. There’s just such a huge demand in New York.”

Hudson Pacific is going to explore other opportunities both within and beyond the city, including potential projects in Brooklyn and Queens, he said.

While many of New York’s competing studio projects are located outside Manhattan, the opening in January of Sunset Pier 94 signaled a broader shift: The city — widely regarded as predating Hollywood as the nation’s first film hub — is coming full circle in reasserting itself as a major U.S. entertainment production center.

Some of the biggest real estate players are getting in on the lights, cameras and action. Hudson Pacific developed Sunset Pier 94, located on the far west side along the Hudson River waterfront, in partnership with Vornado Realty Trust and private equity firm Blackstone, the world’s largest commercial real estate owner.

“We do believe in New York City’s ability to continue to attract film and TV productions,” Barry Langer, Vornado’s executive vice president of development and co-head of real estate, told CoStar News. “If you’re a producer or you’re the talent or stars in one of these shows, you want to be in Manhattan. The backdrop of Manhattan to your productions is critical to making them so interesting.”

Sunset Pier 94 is expected to be fully leased in the first half of this year, Langer said, after signing an initial deal with Paramount Television Studios for a spin-off of the hit series “Dexter.” The 232,000-square-foot project, featuring six soundstages with up to 36-foot unobstructed ceilings and office space, marks Vornado’s first studio development.

New York benefits from its deep pool of creative talent and labor, its ability to film on location, and the expansion of state film tax credits and other incentives, real estate industry professionals say.

Public‑private partnerships have also played a growing role in positioning the city against competing production markets such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Vancouver and London. Sunset Pier 94, for example, was developed in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corp., a pro-business group.

Even so, the metropolitan area including New Jersey has 3.5 million square feet of soundstage space, trailing Los Angeles’ 8 million square feet and Atlanta’s 3.75 million square feet, the real estate firm CBRE told CoStar News with the most recent data available.

New Jersey is quickly emerging as a formidable East Coast competitor for soundstage development, fueled by the restoration of state film tax incentives in 2018. Since then, streaming giant Netflix has announced plans to invest $1 billion in a production complex at Fort Monmouth, while Lionsgate is advancing a $125 million studio project in Jersey City. Also, Paramount is slated to be a major tenant at a 1.6 million‑square‑foot campus under construction in Bayonne.

The following is a current snapshot of the major New York City production studios.

Located at 34-12 36th St. in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, near the Long Island City border, Kaufman Astoria Studios opened in 1920 as the original home of what became Paramount Pictures. The campus spans more than 500,000 square feet of production space, including 11 soundstages totaling more than 147,000 square feet, and is billed as having New York’s only studio backlot.

More than 100 silent films were produced on the site, which today hosts major film, television and streaming productions. Long‑running series such as “Sesame Street” have been produced there since 1992, alongside projects including “Orange Is the New Black,” “The Irishman” and “Ocean’s 8,” according to the studios’ owners, Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital, now part of Affinius Capital. Kaufman Astoria is also billed as the first motion picture studio in the United States listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Silvercup Studios operates three major studio campuses — two in Long Island City and one in the Bronx — with a combined 558,000 square feet of production space and 23 soundstages. Its flagship location at 42‑22 22nd St. in Queens opened in 1983 on the site of the former Silvercup Bread Bakery and houses 13 soundstages. Additional facilities include Silvercup East at 34‑02 Starr Ave. in Long Island City and Silvercup North at 295 Locust Ave. in the Bronx. The studios have hosted productions ranging from “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos” to “Gossip Girl,” “30 Rock,” “The Devil Wears Prada” and “When Harry Met Sally,” according to its website.

Located at 35‑15 19th Ave. in Astoria, Wildflower Studios was co‑developed by actor Robert De Niro, his son Raphael De Niro and developer Adam Gordon, with design by architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group. Completed in 2024, the waterfront complex spans more than 750,000 square feet across 11 soundstages and is billed as a “vertical village” for film production. The facility blends Hollywood‑style studio infrastructure with advanced digital production capabilities.

East End Studios’ New York facility occupies 350,000 square feet at 48‑37 48th St. in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens. The project includes four soundstages, along with office and support space and an outdoor terrace. Completed in 2025, the development in 2023 secured $193 million in construction financing from Canyon Partners and JPMorgan Chase. Built on a full city block between Queens Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway, the project features a 15,000‑square‑foot rooftop flexible stage offering views of the Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan skylines. It is one of four studio campuses being developed or operated by Los Angeles-based East End Studios, with the others located in the greater Los Angeles area.

Borden Studios, at 23‑30 Borden Ave. in Long Island City, occupies the upper floors of the Borden Complex, an industrial development by Innovo Property Group in its foray into the city’s growing film-and-television studio arena. The purpose‑built facility, which CoStar data shows was completed last year, spans 232,935 square feet and contains four soundstages, along with office and support space. The studio also features a nearly 7,000‑square‑foot private rooftop terrace. It is operated by the MBS Group, which Innovo has said is the world’s largest studio operating and production services firm that manages over 500 soundstages and supports more than 900 productions each year across North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Opened in 2004 at Brooklyn Navy Yard, a repurposed former shipbuilding facility, Steiner Studios spans 780,000 square feet and is described as “the largest and most sophisticated studio complex” outside Hollywood. The full‑service campus houses 30 soundstages, including what Steiner says is the largest soundstage on the East Coast at 27,000 square feet. The campus has hosted productions such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” In partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corp., the company also is building a 500,000‑square‑foot waterfront production hub at Bush Terminal in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park. The project is expected to be completed this year, according to CoStar data.

Bungalow Projects, a developer founded in 2023, and private equity firm Bain Capital are building two Brooklyn studio campuses under the Echelon Studios brand: one at 242 Seigel St. in Bushwick and another at 176 Dikeman St. in Red Hook. Together, the projects will deliver approximately 600,000 square feet of production space across 10 soundstages. In October, the joint venture closed on $304 million in construction financing. Both fully electric facilities will feature column‑free soundstages with 40‑foot clear‑to‑grid heights, as well as extensive below‑grade parking. The project also has the backing of public partners: the New York City Economic Development Corp. and New York City Industrial Development Agency.

Netflix’s New York production facility is at 333 Johnson Ave. in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Opened in 2021, the 170,000‑square‑foot studio includes six soundstages, along with office and support space, costume facilities, mills for construction and storage, a commissary and a rooftop patio. It is Netflix’s only dedicated studio production facility in New York, complementing the company’s operating production hubs in markets such as Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Broadway Stages manages more than 4 million square feet of production space and over 60 soundstages across Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, with additional expansion underway. Founded in 1983 by Tony Argento, who turned a former movie theater in Astoria into a soundstage and has since expanded into unconventional locations, including a former gas terminal in Queens and the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility on Staten Island. Broadway Stages counts major television series such as “Law & Order” among its clients.