With a ribbon cutting and a packed guest list of elected officials and developers, Sunset Pier 94 Studios officially opened on Tuesday in Hell’s Kitchen — marking Manhattan’s first purpose-built film and television studio campus.
The red carpet was rolled out for the opening of Sunset Studios at Pier 94. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Hudson Pacific Properties CEO Victor Coleman, one of the project’s development partners, called it “the first purpose-built studio facility in Manhattan,” and said the campus had been designed to meet the demands of modern film and TV production, from tall sound stages to production offices overlooking the waterfront.
The opening comes with an immediate vote of confidence from Hollywood: Paramount Television Studios has signed the studio’s first lease, taking 70,000 square feet to film the second season of Dexter: Resurrection for Paramount+. Coleman said the deal was signed just days before the ribbon cutting, and described it as a major milestone for a facility meant to bring more production work — and more jobs — to the West Side.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal framed the project as a win for the community around it. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal leaned into the show’s dark humor while still underscoring the significance for the neighborhood. “I’m just thrilled that Dexter: Resurrection is going to be filmed here,” he said, inviting the crowd to picture the scale of the space: “30-foot high ceilings and walls splattered with blood. It’s going to be beautiful.”
He also framed the project as a win for the community around it. “We have to be mindful that Hell’s Kitchen — one of the greatest concentrations of artists and performers and musicians — is adjacent to this amazing new initiative,” Hoylman-Sigal said. “This is a new lifeline.”
A scale model shows the view of Pier 94 from the Hudson River, a view of the opening ceremony from above in Stage One and officials cut the ribbon. Photos: Phil O’Brien
The $350 million project at 711 12th Avenue is a joint venture between Vornado Realty Trust, Hudson Pacific and Blackstone, developed in collaboration with the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The campus totals roughly 232,000 square feet and includes six sound stages with up to 36-foot clear heights, along with production support space and offices designed for on-site crews.
Vornado CEO Steven Roth also attended the event, though he didn’t speak formally from the podium. Instead, he offered a quick aside from the sidelines during the remarks, joking that “our logo on that sign is too small,” nodding toward the branded backdrop behind the speakers.
Vornado CEO Steven Roth with New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin. Photo: Phil O’Brien
On a tour of the facility, Hudson Pacific Properties’ Sean Griffin pointed out another tell that this wasn’t a warehouse conversion: the internal corridors are so wide “you can actually drive an SUV up and down here if you need to” — a practical detail for everything from equipment moves to filming car commercials indoors.
City leaders framed the studios not only as a film-industry win, but as an economic engine for the surrounding area. City Council Speaker Julie Menin said the media and entertainment sector is a cornerstone of New York’s economy, calling it a “$104 billion industry” that supports more than 300,000 jobs citywide.
There are six studios connected by wide corridors with production offices on the pier. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Menin also emphasized that productions don’t just benefit the crews and the studio itself — they spill outward into local life. Film and TV teams, she noted, rely on neighborhood businesses including restaurants, coffee shops, dry cleaners and hotels, creating an ecosystem of work that reaches well beyond the sound stages.
While the campus itself is a working production facility, officials said the Pier 94 project also includes public-facing improvements tied to the redevelopment, including new public restrooms for Hudson River Park, a community amenity space, waterfront open space and pier access, and safety upgrades to the nearby bikeway. There is currently no shared timetable for when these public facilities will be fully operational.