The old Army base that helped invent modern military communications is being rebuilt into one of the biggest film and television studios on the East Coast — and it’s happening right here in Monmouth County. Netflix’s $1 billion production hub at the former Fort Monmouth just hit a major construction milestone, with the first soundstages now taking shape in Eatontown and Oceanport.
On June 23, 2026, crews installed the final structural beam on Stages 3 and 4 — a “topping off” moment that marks the skeleton of the first buildings being complete. It’s the clearest sign yet that a project years in the making is becoming real.
Netflix at Fort Monmouth: the key facts
From Army fort to film factory
Fort Monmouth closed as an active Army post in 2011, leaving hundreds of acres of aging buildings behind. Netflix stepped in with a plan to transform 292 of those acres, spanning Eatontown and Oceanport, into a state-of-the-art production hub. To clear the way, the company has demolished roughly 85 former military buildings, making room for new stages, production support space and community amenities.
The first phase centers on four 22,000-square-foot soundstages. When the full campus is built out, it will house 12 soundstages totaling close to half a million square feet — putting it among the largest studio complexes anywhere on the East Coast and rivaling major production centers in New York and Georgia.
The timeline
Netflix says it remains on track to complete Phase 1A in the summer of 2027, when the first four studios are expected to open, with Phase 1B following in the fall of 2028. The June 2026 topping-off of Stages 3 and 4 keeps that schedule on pace, and Netflix has released updated renderings showing a modern campus of stages, offices and support buildings on the reclaimed base.
What it means for Central Jersey
For Monmouth County, the studio is one of the most significant economic-development projects in a generation. New Jersey approved up to $387 million in tax credits for Netflix — incentives the company only collects if it keeps the campus open and operating for at least 10 years — a bet that a permanent Netflix presence will anchor jobs and spending in the region.
Beyond the soundstages themselves, a working studio typically pulls in a web of local activity: construction and skilled-trades work now, and later production crews, catering, lodging, transportation and vendors once cameras start rolling. State and local officials have pointed to the project as a chance to build a lasting film-and-TV industry footprint in New Jersey rather than a one-off shoot.
A new chapter for a historic site
There’s a certain symmetry to it. Fort Monmouth was long a hub of American innovation — the birthplace of key advances in radar and military communications. Its next act, if Netflix delivers on its plans, will be as a place where some of the world’s most-watched shows and films are made, a short drive from the Jersey Shore.
Construction continues through 2026, with the first stages due to come online in 2027. Central Jersey will keep following the project as it rises.
Sources: Netflix newsroom, NJBIZ, The Hollywood Reporter, CoStar and Jersey Digs reporting on the Fort Monmouth studio project.