Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Studio That Helped Make 'Godzilla' to Open 300,000-Sq-Foot Hub in Bronx

By Eddie Small | February 20, 2015 4:06pm | Updated on February 23, 2015 8:53am
 The facility would be about 300,000 square feet and consist of eight studios for film, television, commercials and music videos.
The facility would be about 300,000 square feet and consist of eight studios for film, television, commercials and music videos.
View Full Caption
Bronx Borough President's Office

SOUNDVIEW — The New York studio that helped put together "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", the recent "Godzilla" remake and "This Is Where I Leave You" expects to have a new facility up and running in The Bronx by next summer.

York Studios is working on installing a roughly 300,000-square-foot building in Soundview consisting of eight studios that could be used for movies, television, commercials and music videos, according to Executive Vice President of Production John Battista.

The company anticipates beginning work on the first studio this summer and having it ready for use about a year later.

“It’s going to be on the same level and quality as out in LA, which everybody knows is Hollywood and the studios like that,” Battista said. "State of the art. They'll be state of the art."

The facility would be on a vacant lot adjacent to Soundview Park and bordered by Story and Colgate Avenues, and it should bring hundreds of jobs to the borough, according to Battista.

York currently has a studio on Laurel Hill Boulevard in Queens used by CBS's Sherlock Holmes series "Elementary," and Battista said they were interested in setting up shop in The Bronx due to the amount of available land and the opportunity to bring the borough high quality sound stages.

Marlene Cintron, president of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, agreed that The Bronx was one of the last places that still had available land and also stressed the accessibility of the borough.

"We’re the only borough that’s attached to the mainland. We have access to Connecticut," she said. "Down south, we’ve got the GW bridge here. It’s really an ideal place to get in and out of, much easier than any other borough."

The largest stage would be a 40,000-square-foot facility that could be divided into two 20,000-square-foot spaces, and York is still working out what would film there and how much it will cost to build the facility, according to Battista.

"It’s a huge investment, so we have to work out all the financing and hopefully get some support," he said. "We have a lot of meetings coming up."

The studio already has the strong support of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who praised it as a way to stimulate the arts, economic growth and tourism in the borough.

"This nearly 300,000-square-foot facility will host hundreds of new jobs—well-paying jobs," he said in an email, "and it will provide a hub for creative industries and opportunities for skills development."

Although The Bronx may not be as well known as Hollywood when it comes to studio space, Battista stressed that York's facility in the borough would be on the same level as those in California.

"It will be completely gated and private," he said. "Just like they have in LA."