Netflix Investing $100M to Expand in NYC

NEW YORK CITY—Netflix is expanding in New York City with $100 million in investments. The internet entertainment company is almost tripling its office space in Manhattan and creating a production hub with six sound stages in Brooklyn.

Netflix is increasing its footprint to 100,000 square feet at Normandy Real Estate Partner’s office condo at 888 Broadway in the Flatiron District. Crain’s reported that last fall Netflix had signed a lease for 38,000 square feet in the building. Normandy acquired the top four floors of the six-story structure from ABC Carpet for $133 million in December 2017 according to Real Capital Analytics.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo who made the announcement says the new corporate offices will house 127 new content acquisition, development, production, legal, publicity and marketing positions, in addition to Netflix’s current 32 employees based in New York.

Netflix has also leased 161,000 square feet at 333 Johnson Ave. in Brooklyn. In addition to the sound stages, the governor’s office states the space will house thousands of production jobs within the next five years. In December 2018, Steel Equities purchased the two-story, 160,000-square-foot warehouse from a Normandy Real Estate Partners joint venture for $52.5 million.

Empire State Development has offered up to $4 million in performance-based Excelsior State Tax Credits over 10 years. To receive the tax benefits, Netflix must create 127 jobs by 2024 and retain the existing 32 office jobs for another five years.

The online video streaming company has been changing traditional ideas of film and serial programs highly popularizing a what was once a new form of distribution. This year Netflix made a splash at the Oscars with Alfonso Cuaron’s film Roma winning three awards. Its highly popular serial shows embedded in today’s arts and culture include Orange is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Russian Doll.