Queens Film Studio Project Lands $193M

Sunnyside campus. Rendering by Gluck+, courtesy of East End Studios

Studio development and management company East End Studios has secured $193 million in construction financing for the development of Sunnyside Campus, a 275,000-square-foot media and content production facility in New York City. Canyon Partners Real Estate and J.P. Morgan co-originated the senior loan.

The Class A facility is set to feature three ground-floor sound stages—each spanning 75,000 square feet—with 37-foot clear heights and the possibility to be subdivided, along with a 15,000-square-foot rooftop flex-stage with 26-foot clear heights. The ground-up development is also slated to include 125,000 square feet of production and office space, 225 below-grade parking spaces and eight loading bays for full-sized trucks, as well as full XR/VR infrastructure. Sunnyside Campus is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

The development will occupy an entire city block between Queens Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway. Located in the borough’s Sunnyside neighborhood, the facility will be close to Midtown Manhattan, and within walking distance of multiple public transit options.

New York’s media industry is growing

The New York City Industrial Development Agency is supporting the project by providing lower capital costs and tax incentives. Think Forward Financial Founder & Principal Sunil Aggarwal facilitated the collaboration between NYCIDA and East End Studios. Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Pat Swinney Kaufman stated in prepared remarks that the expansion of the NYS Film Tax Credit is meant to incentivize TV productions to relocate to New York City. Swinney Kaufman added that the city’s $82 billion TV industry represents 6.5 percent of the metro’s total GDP.

Jonathon Yormak, a founding partner at East End Studios, noted in a prepared statement that Sunnyside Campus is set to cater to the unmet demand for production studios across New York City, one of the largest entertainment markets in the world.

While Los Angeles clearly keeps its leading role when it comes to large-scale film-related facilities, the wider NYC area has had its share of new projects and redevelopments in the past couple of years. Last year, National Resources landed a $230 million loan for the largest new production campus in the Northeast.