NBCUniversal Breaks Ground On Needham Media Center

NEEDHAM, MA — With apartments, hotels, nearby restaurants, and major companies like TripAdvisor and Shark Ninja, what else could Needham Crossing and the N2 Innovation use? How about a television studio?

NBCUniversal broke ground on their Boston media center, to be located on 2nd Street. The new media center will bring the company’s four networks under one roof, with NECN, NBC 10, and Telemundo moving from nearby Needham and NBC Sports Boston heading south from Burlington.

In an interview earlier this week, Michael St. Peter, the president of NBC Boston, NECN, and Telemundo Boston, called their future home the $125 million investment the largest that a media company has made in a Boston television facility.

“We’ve really outgrown the space and with the launch of NBC Boston, we’re really bursting at the seams. We’ve had to rent some additional space to accommodate the expansion. We’re desperately looking forward to the brand-new space,” St. Peter said.

About 400 employees will occupy the 160,000-square-foot media center, which will provide a large collaborative space for the four networks. There will be little separation, with everyone working in the same newsroom and assignment desk. Outside the newsroom are six television studios, six control rooms, and a podcast studio. Amenities include a cafe, kitchen, market, private courtyards, fitness facility, and mothering rooms.

Princell Hair, the general manager of NBC Sports Boston, said they will be able to build on the collaboration the networks already do. Current cross-network appearances include NBC Sports Boston’s Kevin Walsh doing weekend sports for NBC 10 and NECN/NBC 10 meteorologist Matt Noyes providing morning weather updates on NBC Boston.

Needham's location was the primary reason it was picked has NBCUniversal Boston's new home. As noted by Hair, they won't be any further away from Boston, but they are closer to Foxborough for Patriots games and Norton for the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. On the news side, the rest of the state is more accessible with their studio located just off the highway.

"We looked at trying to have access to highways and the access to Route 128, we can go to the North Shore, South Shore, we can travel west or go into town. We’re just grateful for Needham to have been open-minded about locating there. They’ve proven to be a great community to work in," St. Peter said.

As part of the mitigation agreement, NBCUniversal with promote Needham Crossing with on-air graphics and offer internships to local students.

NBCUniversal hopes to be in their new home by fall 2019 with the first offices occupied by September.

Photos taken by Dan Libon/Patch