Netflix will be among bidders revealed online within 24 hours
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
FORT MONMOUTH – At approximately 12:30 p.m. June 6, bid proposals to redevelop over 290 acres – most of the remaining unsold property on the former Fort Monmouth known as the Mega Parcel – will be opened by staff of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA). While the names of the bidding entities will be made public, little else will be known about what those proposals contain for months.
Entertainment titan Netflix confirmed to The Two River Times in October 2021 that it would be among the bidders, four months after this newspaper first broke the news of Netflix’s interest in creating a production facility on the former U.S. Army base.
Contacted May 20, a Netflix public relations representative declined to comment directly on the bid proposal, instead sending comments addressing recent media reports about the company’s declining subscriber rates, layoffs and other concerns that may or may not impact it’s plans for Fort Monmouth. The statement read:
“Netflix has 221.64 million global subscribers, the largest subscriber base of all the streaming services. In the first quarter of 2022, Netflix made $1.6 billion in profit and $7.8 billion in quarterly sales, a +10% increase in revenue from the same quarter in 2021. Netflix lost 200,000 global subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 (still a fraction of a percent of our entire global subscriber base). It’s important to note that 1 million+ subscribers were lost as Netflix pulled out of Russia in the aftermath of the war in Europe. Other areas of the world showed subscriber growth.”
While Netflix may be the highest profile firm bidding on the Mega Parcel, sources said nationally prominent developers are also expected to submit offers with “multiple bids” anticipated.
The submission deadline is noon June 6. No bids were submitted as of the last monthly FMERA meeting May 18, said FMERA senior marketing and real estate development officer Sarah Giberson. For the first time, she added, FMERA will post the names of the proposers to its website at fortmonmouthnj.com within 24 hours of the bid opening. Previously, identities of bidders on fort properties were not disclosed until a purchase and sale agreement with the winning bidder was finalized.
The bid process is guided by strict rules and is overseen by the State Attorney General’s Office, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, and the Department of Environmental Protection. After FMERA staff and a representative of the U.S. Army complete an evaluation process and rank bids based on established criteria that include “the highest and best use,” negotiations with the top ranked bidder will begin. If FMERA and the top bidder come to terms, that firm will be presented to FMERA’s voting members, including the mayors of the three municipalities the fort spans – Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls.
Once approved, the potential purchaser undertakes a “due diligence” period during which the site is examined by engineers and experts. If the developer opts to proceed, a Purchase, Sale and Redevelopment Agreement (PSARA) is created including precise requirements which must be adhered to by the purchaser. Should the top scoring bidder exit the process for any reason, FMERA would begin working with the second ranked bidder.
Approvals by the municipalities’ planning boards and governing bodies are also part of the process. A Certificate of Completion on a finished project is not issued by FMERA until every item is checked off the list post-construction. FMERA officials estimate the start of construction on any new Mega Parcel project could be two to four years away.
The Mega Parcel comprises about 20 percent of the fort’s total 1,126-acres and has been appraised at approximately $54 million. It includes sections in Eatontown and Oceanport. Fort properties within Tinton Falls are already 90 percent built out.
The Mega Parcel began as a 55-acre site inside the fort’s famed Johnson Gates along Route 35 initially termed “Parcel B.” It was envisioned as a multiuse development with a mall, movie theater, residences, restaurants, entertainment and public space. Other parcels were added over time, most notably three sites already on track for other uses – six former barracks slated to be turned into an arts community, the former bowling alley set for modernization, and the Expo Theater, intended to become an indoor/outdoor sports facility. All three projects were abandoned last summer, about the same time The Two River Times revealed Netflix’s plans to bid on the Mega Parcel. One source confirmed the existence of nondisclosure agreements prohibiting further discussion of the properties.
Also included in the Mega Parcel is the 100,000-square-foot circa 1997 McAfee Center, a former research and development facility on 45 acres.
New Jersey’s
Film Production Boom
Aggressive efforts by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and members of his administration have been credited with the expansion of the state’s entertainment-related business. In addition to tax credits and other incentives, Murphy moved quickly when Georgia, the current location of major film production facilities, enacted new voting laws that received some backlash from the entertainment industry. The governor’s office invited major motion picture companies to consider doing business in the Garden State and Netflix responded. Representatives toured sites in the state last year and decided to bid on the Fort Monmouth Mega Parcel.
The New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission announced that in-state film production spending last year exceeded half a billion dollars. Last August, Murphy cut the ribbon on the new Cinelease Studios in Jersey City. Earlier this month, Great Point Studios and The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), announced a partnership with Lionsgate to build a new production facility in Newark. The 300,000-square-foot, full-service, modern entertainment complex on 12 acres will include production stages and is scheduled to open in late 2024.
“With the addition of the Lionsgate Newark Studio, New Jersey will cement its position as a hub for television and film production,” Murphy said. “(It) not only promotes the economic vitality of our state, but also provides good jobs and access to opportunity. New Jersey’s film production industry has undergone explosive growth. The exciting part is that we are just getting started.”
Locally, The Two River Times exclusively reported May 19 that the former Port Monmouth Elementary School near the intersection of Route 35 and Main Street was leased by Navesink River Productions as an office headquarters for the forthcoming feature-length film “Miranda’s Victim.” Founder George Kolber said filming will take place in and around Middletown, Red Bank and Monmouth University.
“We’re starting to see New Jersey become the mecca of filmmaking,” Kolber said, citing the Christopher Nolan movie “Oppenheimer” currently on location in Princeton, and a project starring Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence filming in South Amboy.
In January, the new position of senior adviser for Economic Development Communications and Sector Lead for Film and Digital Media was created within the EDA. Darryl Isherwood of Clinton, a former news reporter and marketing executive, was named to the post.
“Studios have reached out interested in coming to New Jersey and want to see what we can offer,” Isherwood said. “It’s a big priority of the governor.”
“America’s first movie studio was in New Jersey,” Netflix noted in a statement sent to this newspaper last October. “Governor Murphy and the state’s legislative leaders have created a business environment that’s welcomed film and television production, and we’re excited to submit our bid to transform Fort Monmouth into a state-of-the-art production facility.”
The federal government shuttered the fort in 2011 as part of a national realignment of military bases aimed at cutting costs. Approximately 5,000 civilian jobs were lost, and some 15,000 military personnel stationed there relocated, many to Maryland. Area businesses suffered or closed altogether. Since then, FMERA has guided the redevelopment of the site parcel by parcel. To date, 86 percent of the fort has already been sold, is under contract, or in other phases of the process.
“The devil will be in the details,” Oceanport Mayor Jay Coffey said. “Until we see what the bid documents hold, I’m reserving judgment, but am excited about this type of development.”
The article originally appeared in the May 26 – June 1, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
