Devens Film Studios Enter 'Production' Phase
PHOTO/JACQUELYN GUTC
Michael Meyers, director of real estate development for New England Studios, spoke Tuesday about the economic importance of projects like the one in Devens has on the areas they're in.
At the ceremonial groundbreaking for New England Studios in Devens on Tuesday, the buzz was all about the benefits the film and television studio is expected to bring to Massachusetts companies and workers.
"A studio is a dynamo. It's an economic engine," said Michael J. Meyers, managing director of MJM Development and director of real estate development for New England Studios, which represents a group of private investors and real estate developers working to bring the $104-million project to fruition.
At the event, at Devens' Rogers Field, Chris Byers, director of studio operations, said he began dedicating all his time to the project six years ago.
"Developing this project was a need that Massachusetts had," he said.
Byers said plans for the studio originally focused on Lowell, but that an investor suggested making the footprint larger, leading the team to the former Army base in Devens. A tax increment financing (TIF) deal was authorized last summer by the board of directors of MassDevelopment, the state agency that manages the former base. The TIF will be applied proportionately to each phase of the project, reducing the studio's taxes by more than 20 percent over 20 years.
MassDevelopment Spokeswoman Kelsey Abbruzzese said the land was purchased from the agency for $575,000.
Phase 1 Target Date: Summer 2013
Byers said the first phase of the project – on what is designated as Lot 13, a 15-acre parcel of wooded land at Givry and Hospital roads – is expected to be complete next summer. It will include four 18,000-square-foot sound stages, offices, a storage building and more for a cost of more than $30 million and totaling 126,000 square feet.
According to MassDevelopment, the project will generate at least 100 construction jobs and about 30 full-time workers will be employed upon its completion. After the production companies rent the studios, another 250 to 300 film production jobs will be created.
MassDevelopment expects the project to spur economic growth in the area around Devens as well, as the TV and film industry relies on caterers, florists, vehicle rentals, laundry services, carpenters and others.
"We are really trying to stay on target with making Massachusetts companies the beneficiaries," Byers said of the project.
He told the crowd of more than 100 that they will be invited back next summer for a grand opening.
"At that time, New England Studios is going to be a reality," he said, predicting it will be the source of long-running TV shows and the "home of real job growth for creative people around the country who love to film in this area."
Opportunity For Fitchburg State Grads?
State Rep. Stephen L. DiNatale, D-Fitchburg, said the studio will be an opportunity for graduates of Fitchburg State University's theater program to find jobs in the commonwealth.
The site could provide more steady employment for those graduates, thanks to the creation of industry infrastructure that Massachusetts Film Office Director Lisa Strout said the state needs.
It has been an active place for television and film production since state tax incentives began in 2007, and Strout said that on a recent trade mission to California, industry representatives called Massachusetts one of the top five ideal places for filming.
"With infrastructure, we move up considerably," she added. "This is a major deal."
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