Along Ocean Avenue in Long Branch, New Jersey, new glass-fronted apartments rise above the boardwalk as Monmouth County experiences a construction boom. Between 2020 and 2025, the county authorized 14,827 new homes, a 52 per cent increase over the prior six years. The surge follows Netflix's $1bn production campus at the former Fort Monmouth army base, set to open next summer with 1,500 permanent staff needing housing.

Paramount is building a Bayonne studio complex for 2,000 jobs opening in 2028, while Lionsgate anchors a $125mn Newark facility due in 2027. Since the Netflix announcement, Long Branch median sale prices have risen 19 per cent per Zillow. Real estate agents now accommodate actors for local Netflix projects including Kevin Hart's film 72 Hours and Adam Driver's Rabbit, Rabbit series.

Former governor Phil Murphy's 2018 Garden State Film and Digital Media Jobs Act provided tax credits to lure production. Developers aim to rebrand the area as "Hollywood East," but must overcome the faded reputation from the 2009-2012 Jersey Shore reality show.