There's a seismic shift happening at the southern tip of Hudson County, and if you're not watching Bayonne, you're already behind the curve. What was once a brownfield waterfront site — a former Texaco oil terminal sitting quietly along the Kill van Kull — is being transformed into one of the most consequential real estate stories in all of New Jersey. The name driving that story is 1888 Studios, and its impact on Bayonne property values, investment strategy, and the broader case for relocating to New Jersey is only beginning to unfold.
What Is 1888 Studios — and Why Does It Matter?
On December 16, 2025, officials gathered on Bayonne's Bergen Point waterfront for a groundbreaking ceremony that marked the start of something historic. Construction began on 1888 Studios, a 1.6 million-square-foot movie and television production campus that includes 23 state-of-the-art smart stages, 10 acres of basecamp, an on-site five-story parking garage, and a 22-acre water backlot.
Set to become the largest campus-style production facility in the Northeast and one of the largest in the nation, the Gensler-designed, 58-acre facility features more than 1.1 million square feet of production space, with smart sound stages boasting minimum 40-foot clear ceiling heights, along with production support space, flexible post-production space, offices, mills, and basecamp facilities.
The name itself is a nod to New Jersey's cinematic roots. 1888 pays homage to Thomas Edison — the year he patented the first motion picture camera in New Jersey. That connection is no accident. New Jersey is where the movie industry was born, and Bayonne specifically has deep ties to early cinema: the first independent motion picture production company in the United States, The Centaur Film Company, opened right here in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1907. What's happening today isn't a reinvention of Bayonne — it's a homecoming.
Paramount Signs On: What a 10-Year Lease Really Means
The anchor tenant news sent shockwaves through the real estate investment community. Paramount has committed to occupying more than 285,000 square feet at the 1.6 million-square-foot complex just west of the Bayonne Bridge under a minimum 10-year lease agreement with developer Togus Urban Renewal LLC.
This isn't just a corporate real estate transaction. It is a decade-long institutional commitment to Bayonne's economy. As reported by jerseydigs.com and nj.com, the deal positions New Jersey firmly alongside the nation's top production markets. As a Studio Partner, Paramount is eligible for a 40 percent base tax credit for qualified production expenses on future New Jersey film and television projects — a competitive edge that runs through 2039 and is drawing studio interest from across the country.
The project is expected to create more than 4,300 jobs, including at least 2,300 construction positions and about 2,000 jobs tied to ongoing studio operations and related activity. Those aren't temporary gig-economy roles — these are union jobs, production jobs, and the kind of stable employment that ripples through a local housing market. When thousands of workers need to live, eat, and commute near Bergen Point, the landlords and property owners already positioned nearby win first.
The Real Estate Numbers in Bergen Point Right Now
For buyers and investors watching from the sidelines, here's what the current market looks like. The average Bayonne home value sits at approximately $509,952, up 2.8% over the past year, but that city-wide figure masks the premium commanded in the Bergen Point neighborhood specifically. The Bergen Point median real estate price is $733,168, ranking it more expensive than 62.6% of neighborhoods in New Jersey and 79.3% of neighborhoods across the United States. The average rental price in Bergen Point is currently $2,883.
What makes these numbers compelling from an investment standpoint is the trajectory. Appreciation rates for homes in Bayonne have been tracking above average for the last ten years, with a cumulative appreciation rate of 110.71%, ranking in the top 30% nationwide. The latest twelve-month appreciation rate sits at 6.84%, higher than 86.65% of cities and towns across the country.
That was before the 1888 Studios groundbreaking. The macro catalyst has now arrived. Sites like jerseydigs.com have been tracking Hudson County's development pipeline closely, and the Bergen Point corridor increasingly appears on their radar as a neighborhood to watch. The waterfront location, the incoming studio economy, and the transit infrastructure all converge in a way that real estate fundamentals rarely deliver this cleanly.
The Commuter Goldmine Case: Brooklyn, Queens, and the Light Rail
For relocating buyers — particularly those leaving Brooklyn and Queens in search of more square footage for less money — Bayonne has quietly been building one of the best commuter value propositions in the tri-state area. Most commuters use the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to connect to the PATH train in Jersey City, which then provides direct service to Manhattan. The Bayonne Bridge also creates a direct Staten Island connection, opening up additional routing options for the outer-borough transplant crowd.
The combination of waterfront views, below-Jersey-City pricing, improving walkability, and now a major economic engine being built within the neighborhood makes Bayonne the kind of market that hobokengirl.com readers — many of whom are tracking Hudson County affordability closely — are beginning to circle. Hoboken and Jersey City have seen their price floors rise dramatically over the past decade. Bayonne is where their next chapter is being written.
The "Big Three" Investment Framework Applied to Bayonne
Whether you're a first-time buyer or a seasoned investor, evaluating any Hudson County market comes down to three core pillars: proximity to New York City, transit infrastructure, and school quality. Bayonne checks the first two convincingly — and the third is an ongoing conversation that the city's leadership is actively working to improve alongside the economic momentum building at Bergen Point.
The median home price currently stands at $600,000, with the price per square foot averaging $349 — compared to nearby Jersey City or Manhattan, these prices represent a more affordable entry point for homeownership while maintaining proximity to New York City. For a multi-family investor, Bergen Point's housing stock is particularly notable: 57.4% of the real estate in Bergen Point consists of small 2, 3, or 4 unit apartment buildings, which is a higher proportion than found in 99.1% of America's neighborhoods. That density of income-producing small multi-family properties, combined with the incoming production workforce, creates a compelling landlord thesis.
New Jersey's "Hollywood East" Moment — and What's Still Ahead
1888 Studios doesn't stand alone. Lionsgate and Netflix are currently Studio Partners in New Jersey, with the former anchoring a new Great Point complex in Newark and the streaming giant building out a production campus in Fort Monmouth. New Jersey's film industry generated $833 million in overall in-state production spending in 2024, surpassing the previous record, and the Bayonne groundbreaking represents the next chapter of that growth story.New Jersey EDA CEO Tim Sullivan described the project as converting a brownfield liability into an economic asset and generator of stories that will be told around the world. The studios are coming. The jobs are coming. And for anyone willing to get ahead of the curve, the real estate opportunity in Bergen Point is real, measurable, and backed by a level of institutional commitment that rarely arrives in a single neighborhood all at once.
If you've been eyeing Bayonne — as a place to live, to invest, or to relocate to from New York — the window before the Hollywood effect fully prices into the market is still open. But it won't stay open indefinitely.
Watch the full episode of New Jersey Living for a complete breakdown of specific listings, current sales data, and the neighborhood trends shaping Bayonne's rise.
