Kenneth Falcone (pictured above, Leave) wants all 4,000 of its merchants to leave their jobs by 2028. It’s great: As Director of Enterprise Operations at Netflix, this is kind of… for him job. Plus, they’ll all move on to the next gig — construction isn’t that different from film and TV production.
In December 2022, Netflix purchased a quarter of the vacant 1,200-acre US military base Fort Monmouth, a business decision tied entirely to the Garden State’s generous movie tax incentive program. In May 2025, Falcone, Jersey-born Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, and (former) Governor Phil Murphy and I embarked on an ambitious, multi-year construction project. Well, I didn’t get a shovel, but it was a fairly intimate affair. As it was this morning.
On Tuesday, Falcon, I, and 400 other construction workers (and yes, a few others) celebrated what the streamer described as a “major milestone.” The final structural beam has now been placed on Phases 3 and 4 of Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth (of 12 planned, totaling 500,000 square feet; there will also be offices and post-production facilities). Contractors love beams, so we barbecued. (There was also Mediterranean food, but perhaps there weren’t as many vegans and vegetarians in attendance. Choice of Service Hibiscus Likewise, the iced tea did not receive a positive review from the person in front of me.)
Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth is being developed in two phases. What Falcon calls Phase 1-A is 50 percent complete, he estimates Hollywood Reporter after lunch Candy (cookies, salt water taffy, and ice cream). The shells (below) are there, but it’s the inner work that takes longer.
Phase 1-B is already about 10 percent partially underway, Falcon said Which Work completed.
“We had a very tough winter, but we were able to keep the momentum going, and the contractor was able to stay on track,” Falcone said.
Site works for the new phase, such as land grading and demolition, have been completed; Falcon said construction will begin next week. Phase 1-B will be completed in 2028, but Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth will still be in its infancy. This is functionally true and probably physically true as well.
Falcon, who also oversaw the Netflix Studios Albuquerque expansion, said there are still “a handful” of acres available for purchase THR. Although he believes it’s unlikely Netflix will buy more land (“probably not”), it may be overdeveloping what it has. (Why not? That’s what the rest of New Jersey’s central land developers are doing.)
“There may be a second phase,” Falcone said. “Hopefully if the production is what we want, we will start building more.”
So, if Netflix closes in Los Angeles’ historic Radford Studio Center district, Falcon may not be available for rehab. Radford is a relative steal at $330 million, even though it’s only 55 acres away from the 295 acres at Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth. The various investments reflect the industry’s momentum in and out of Los Angeles, meaning much of it is moving outside of Los Angeles. For the first quarter of 2026, New Jersey saw the largest growth in production spending in the United States, according to ProdPro (below).
California is still the biggest spender overall, and even neighboring New York State eclipses New Jersey today — but change is happening in the saltwater air of the Jersey Shore.
Netflix has committed $1 billion to build its campus in Fort Monmouth. That’s chump change: Netflix will spend $20 billion on content this year.
