On September 7 in the Bayonne High School Auditorium, representatives of Togus, the redeveloper of Bayonne’s former Texaco property, presented details about the site’s future as a film and television production facility.  The new production center will be named 1888 Studios after the year that Thomas Edison developed his movie camera.  It will be located in the southwest corner of Bergen Point, west of Avenue A.  The construction phase is expected to create 2,000 jobs for the unionized building trades.  Once the studios are in full operation, at least 2,100 permanent jobs will be created.  Depending on production levels, that figure could grow to 3,000 jobs.  Togus, the developer, is expected to invest about $900 million to complete the project.

Introducing the program, Mayor Jimmy Davis recalled growing up near the Texaco refinery, which closed in 1984.  He referred to the construction of a film and TV production facility as “a transformation”  of the former Texaco site. He said that the 1888 Studios would join the Cape Liberty Cruise Port and the Bayonne Golf Club as significant “world-class” facilities in Bayonne.

According to Robert Benecke, the developer’s financial advisor, the property has 70 acres, of which 58 are on land.  Benecke said that preparatory work on the property has been going on for two years.  The developer has already spent about $60 million, he said, primarily on adding clean fill to the soil, which had environmental issues....

View Full Story Here