New York City Economic Development Corporation, New York City Industrial Development Agency and real estate investor Bungalow Projects have closed on two transactions totaling $552 million to support construction of high-end film and television production studios in Brooklyn.
The sites at 176 Dikeman Street in Red Hook and 242 Seigel Street in Bushwick will be branded as Echelon Studios and, the city estimated, serve as economic and industry drivers generating 2,400 jobs between construction and operations.
The 600,000 square feet of facilities will accommodate big-budget productions “and fill New York City’s undersupply of purpose-built stages critical to industry growth,” the announcement said. The news follows an expansion of New York’s film and television production incentives this year and years of the increased competition from neighboring New Jersey and other states.
“With the State’s expanded Film Tax Credit Program fueling more production activity, Echelon Studios will be ideally positioned to capture this wave of demand while creating thousands of jobs for New Yorkers,” said Bungalow Projects co-founder Travis Feehan.
“New York City is ripe to grow its presence as a global production destination,” added NYCEDC President & CEO Andrew Kimball.
Robert De Niro’s new Wildflower Studios opened in Astoria this year. Borden Studios is new in Long Island City. Steiner Studios and the New York City Economic Development Corporation broke ground on an outpost in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. East End Studios is rising in Sunnyside, Queens. Construction is underway on Sunset Pier 94 on the far West Side of midtown Manhattan. New entrants will join historic Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens and Silvercup Studios – with its expansion Silvercup Studios East — in Long Island City, and Broadway Stages in Brooklyn.
“The content filmed at these new studios, outside their walls, on the streets of Brooklyn, and throughout all the five boroughs, help drive global audiences to visit, work and live here, which in turn provide jobs and support local businesses,” said NYC Film Commissioner Pat Swinney Kaufman.
Mayor Eric Adams said, “investments like this one … create a city where every New Yorker can find a job and every family can thrive.” Adams recently ended his reelection campaign with New Yorkers set to go to the polls on Nov. 4.
The two new studios will feature state-of-the-art industry specifications including column-free soundstages with clear-to-grid heights of 40 feet, significant below-grade parking space, high production support-to-stage space ratios, and top-of-market electrical, HVAC, and floor load capacity. Bushwick is designed for three large, high-budget film or television productions at a time, Red Hook, for one or two big projects.
The Red Hook site expands an ongoing economic and workforce development push to modernize the Brooklyn Marine Terminal and create a mixed-use community along the waterfront with thousands of new homes, public and commercial spaces.