Movie/TV Studio Campus at West Side’s Pier 94 Advances
By JOHN JORDAN – September 26, 2023
NEW YORK—The developers of the long-anticipated movie/television studio project at Pier 94 on Manhattan’s West Side say that construction is expected to begin this fall on the $350-million, public-private partnership venture.
On Aug. 29, Vornado Realty Trust, Hudson Pacific Properties, Blackstone, the City of New York, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced they had entered into Manhattan’s first public-private partnership venture to build a purpose-built studio campus at Pier 94. The project to be built will be called “Sunset Pier 94 Studios.”
Vornado, who contributed its long-term leasehold with New York City for Pier 94 to the venture, will own 49.9%; Hudson Pacific will own 25.6%; and Blackstone’s institutional Core+ Real Estate strategy will own 24.5%. Vornado will be responsible for development and Hudson Pacific will provide design oversight and manage the facility’s leasing and operations.
Plans for the 266,000-squarefoot Sunset Pier 94 Studios include six purpose-built soundstages with production control room facilities and 145,000 square feet of production support space and offices, with Hudson River views and on-site parking.
“With our administration’s leadership, New York City is back—we have recovered 99% of the jobs lost during the pandemic, and visitors from across the world are returning to Broadway and Times Square,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
“Sunset Pier 94 Studios demonstrates a monumental public-private partnership that will have a lasting impact on our city by creating 400 film and TV jobs, more than 1,300 construction jobs, along with an estimated economic impact of $6.4 billion over the next 30 years,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President & CEO Andrew Kimball.
The new facility will be the first New York location for Hudson Pacific and Blackstone’s growing studio platform and synergistic with its existing Los Angeles operations. With the addition of Sunset Pier 94 Studios, Sunset Studios will comprise 69 existing and planned stages globally across six purpose-built facilities, all in top-tier locations within the well-established and supply constrained production epicenters of Los Angeles, London and New York. Sunset Studio’s planned Sunset Waltham Cross Studios is expected to open in 2026 with 21 sound stages. Hudson Pacific’s Quixote brand operates an additional 26 stages in Los Angeles and New Orleans and services productions in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans and Albuquerque, NM.
The project represents a total investment of approximately $350 million from Vornado, Hudson Pacific and Blackstone, and is expected to create more than 1,300 construction jobs, 400 permanent jobs and contribute $6.4 billion to the local economy over the next 30 years. Construction will begin in the third quarter of this year. RBC is providing $183 million in construction financing. The project is expected to be completed by year-end 2025.