Manhattan’s first purpose-built studio campus has landed its first lease, with Paramount Television Studios for a spin-off of the hit “Dexter” TV series — the latest sign of New York cementing its role as a major U.S. entertainment production hub.
Paramount Television Studios, a subsidiary of global media company Paramount Skydance Corp., took 70,000 square feet at Sunset Pier 94 Studios, located at 711 12th Ave. on the far west side of Manhattan, the project’s joint-venture partners Vornado Realty Trust, Los Angeles developer Hudson Pacific Properties and Blackstone, the world's largest commercial real estate owner, said Thursday in a statement.
Paramount will use the space for filming the second season of the Showtime original “Dexter: Resurrection” and occupy parts of the facility in phases, including two soundstages, production support and office spaces. Season 1 of “Dexter: Resurrection,” the latest in the series plotting the exploits of fictional serial killer Dexter Morgan, played by Michael C. Hall, was already filmed extensively in New York.
The property is slated to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday to celebrate its opening after the development team in 2023 unveiled its joint venture for the $350 million project that was also billed at the time as Manhattan’s first public-private partnership venture to build a film-and-television production campus.
The 232,000-square-foot Sunset Pier 94 Studios includes six purpose-built soundstages with up to 36-foot clear heights and 145,000 square feet of production support space and offices overlooking the Hudson River, the parties said, adding there also is on-site parking.
The campus, thanks to its location and features, has generated “significant interest in large blocks of space,” where deals are “in the pipeline,” the joint venture said, adding New York state’s recently expanded film tax credits are helping bring interest.
Lure of tax incentives
New York increased its tax incentives to better vie against states such as California and Georgia amid rising consumer demand for original content, a Deloitte study found.
Still, competition aside, New York is “uniquely positioned” as a leading location for studio production for streaming providers and broadcast networks, given advantages such as its access to talent and labor and the ability to shoot on location, according to Deloitte.
The New York metro area’s film and television industry has rebounded “relatively quickly” among major North America markets in the aftermath of the pandemic and the Hollywood writers' and actors’ strikes in 2023, CBRE said in a 2024 study. New York also has increased its soundstage inventory to “close the gap” in stage size and quality with competing markets across North America, the brokerage said.
Multiple "high-quality productions" have been looking to lease significant portions of the facility for six months to a year with potential to renew for an additional term thereafter, Mark Lammas, president of Hudson Pacific, told Wall Street analysts on its quarterly earnings call in November.
Sunset Pier 94 Studios, working closely with the New York City Economic Development Corp., also features public amenities such as new public restrooms for Hudson River Park, a nearly 2,000-square-foot community amenity space, 25,000 square feet of waterfront open space and pier access, and safety improvements to the bikeway.
New York-based Vornado, which contributed its long-term leasehold for Pier 94 to the venture, owns 49.9% of the studio campus while Hudson Pacific and Blackstone own about a quarter stake each, the partners said in 2023. Vornado has a ground and building lease on the site through 2110, according to its annual filing.
The Pier 94 development is expected to create 400 permanent jobs and contribute $6.4 billion to the local economy over the next 30 years, the joint venture said.