Netflix to open new production centers in Bushwick and Flatiron
Netflix will open six sound stages and support spaces in Bushwick at 333 Johnson Avenue; photo via Google Streetview
Netflix plans to expand its New York City footprint with new production centers in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday that the streaming-service company will take up 100,000 square feet at 888 Broadway in Flatiron and roughly 160,000 square feet at 333 Johnson Avenue in Bushwick. “Netflix is innovative, creative and bold – just like New Yorkers – and the expansion of this cutting-edge company in New York once again demonstrates the Empire State is open for business,” Cuomo said.
Netflix currently has offices on West 17th Street. According to the Real Deal, the company signed a five-year sublease with Twitter in 2017 for about 120,000 square feet. But this new deal indicates Netflix will be relocating its Chelsea corporate offices to 888 Broadway.
According to the governor, the media company’s new office space in Flatiron will accommodate 127 new positions in addition to its 32 current NYC-based employees. Six sound stages and support spaces will be built at the new Bushwick site, “expected to house thousands of production jobs within five years,” a press release reads.
“New York has created a film-friendly environment that’s home to some of the best creative and executive talent in the world, and we’re excited to provide a place for them at Netflix with our production hub,” Jason Hariton, the director of real estate at Netflix, said in a statement.
The Empire State Development has offered Netflix up to $4 million in Excelsior Tax Credits over a decade, only if the company creates 127 “high-paying office-based jobs by 2024,” according to Cuomo. As part of the incentives deal, the company must retain those new jobs and the existing 32 jobs for another five years. The two production hubs are expected to bring up to $100 million in investments to the city.
The tax incentives provided to Netflix pale in comparison to the ones offered to Amazon. Before pulling out of its deal to open a new headquarters in Long Island City earlier this year, Amazon had pledged to bring 25,000 new jobs in exchange for nearly $3 billion in state and city incentives.
The tech-giant canceled its plan to open its HQ2 in Queens following backlash from local officials and advocates who found the incentive package offered to the world’s most valuable company too costly.
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