More than three years after its initial announcement, a major milestone has finally arrived for one of New Jersey’s most anticipated entertainment developments. Construction has officially kicked off on Lionsgate Newark, a $125 million film and television production campus poised to transform a 12-acre former public housing site into a full-scale, 300,000-square-foot studio hub.
City and state leaders joined project partners on Thursday to celebrate the groundbreaking, marking another turning point in New Jersey’s aggressive push to position itself as a top-tier destination for major film and TV production. The studio is a partnership between Great Point Studios, Lionsgate, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), all of which confirmed that work is formally starting at 164 Dayton St. with completion targeted for spring 2027.
Best known for franchises including “Hunger Games,” “Twilight,” and “John Wick,” Lionsgate will serve as the long-term anchor tenant while Great Point Studios owns and operates the facility in Newark’s South Ward.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, whose administration has prioritized film-related economic development, underscored the state's growing position in the industry.
“New Jersey is now a significant global competitor of consequence in film and television, not just to make stuff in Jersey — which is at an all-time-high clip — but to build bricks-and-mortar where you have decades-long investments with the likes of Great Point and Lionsgate,” Murphy said.
He hinted that the Newark groundbreaking is only the beginning, noting that similar announcements for two additional large studio campuses will take place in the coming weeks.
The ceremony follows a major regional development: Netflix’s recent $55 million purchase of a nearly 300-acre site at Fort Monmouth, where it plans to build a $1 billion production campus. Additional projects, including Bayonne’s 1.6 million-square-foot 1888 Studios—where Paramount will anchor—signal an expanding film ecosystem across the Garden State.
At the groundbreaking event, held at the nearby Temple of Hip Hop cultural center, developers signed a Community Benefits Agreement with the city of Newark. The pact formalizes commitments tied to hiring, training, and long-term economic opportunities for local residents.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka emphasized the scale of the project’s economic contribution:
He said the new studio will generate 600 long-term production jobs and deliver an estimated $800 million annual boost to the city and state economy. The agreement also includes concrete hiring goals: 40% of all worker hours will go to Newark residents, 25% of construction work to minority-owned businesses, and 7% to women-owned firms.
“So I don’t want people to leave here thinking that we’re transforming a community without the residents in mind because that’s just not true,” Baraka said. “We’re going to make sure that the residents are in mind, but not just in mind, but on-site.”
Once completed, Lionsgate Newark is expected to significantly strengthen the region’s film production capacity. Its location—just outside downtown Newark and near major transit corridors—positions it to attract large-scale productions while creating a pipeline of workforce development opportunities tied to NJPAC and other cultural institutions.
The project represents one of several major entertainment real estate investments reshaping New Jersey’s economic landscape, reflecting a broader trend of media companies seeking long-term physical footprints outside traditional hubs like Los Angeles and New York.
Originally reported by Linda Moss in Costar.
