Barnes & Noble wins OK to build in Monroe

Book seller declines to disclose details for its new facility

BY TARA PETERSEN
Staff Writer

Barnes & Noble wins OK to build in Monroe

Book seller declines to disclose details for its new facility

BY TARA PETERSEN

Staff Writer

Barnes & Noble will build a large warehouse and office facility in Monroe near its current South Brunswick warehouse.

The company received preliminary and final approval at the Jan. 22 Planning Board meeting to build an approximately 1.2 million-square-foot facility on 30 acres near the New Jersey Turnpike off Cranbury-South River Road, or Route 535, according to Councilman and Planning Board member John Riggs.

"There will be two buildings. One is about 108,000 square feet, and one is in excess of 1 million square feet," Riggs said Tuesday.

"We did both approvals in the same night because they had a contractual deadline," Riggs said. "It wasn’t a problem because the roadway and infrastructure were already in place."

The company plans to break ground in the spring and to be up and running by 2005, said Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating.

Riggs said the project is expected to bring the township tax revenue of close to $1.5 million once it is completed.

According to Riggs, Barnes & Noble representatives indicated to the Planning Board that the facility would ultimately act as the headquarters for the region.

"This will be their main functioning headquarters, at least for this distribution channel [in the Northeast]," Riggs said.

Keating, however, said Tuesday that the corporation has not made its plan public.

"We can only confirm that we signed an agreement. We can’t give out any more information than that," Keating said.

Riggs said the company did not divulge plans for its current South Brunswick facility, other than providing the contract expiration date for renting the buildings.

According to Riggs, the corporation has a lease in South Brunswick until 2011.

Riggs said the neighboring facility is smaller than the one planned in Monroe and consists of three buildings.

"The only thing they told us was that their contract in South Brunswick is through 2011," Riggs said. "Whether they will no longer operate in those facilities or continue to use them to supplement [the Monroe location], I don’t know."

South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese said Tuesday that Barnes & Noble representatives assured officials in that township in December that the company’s plans in Monroe will not change the current operation in South Brunswick.

Gambatese said he was surprised how quickly Barnes & Noble moved through the Planning Board process in Monroe.

"Towns are in a real fight over [property tax] ratables. We have to do as good or a better job in processing applications," Gambatese said.

Despite the approval, Gambatese said Barnes & Noble assured him the new construction will not mean a loss to the tax ratable in South Brunswick.

The new facilities would mark the first construction in a new industrial park located on the Stavola mine property, Riggs said.

"We approved an industrial park there years ago," Riggs said.

Officials said the project is part of a concerted effort by the current administration to close down the mines within the township.

Councilman Irwin Nalitt said that in 1988, when he first took office, there were eight active mines in Monroe that mined gravel, soil, clay and sand.

"We had upwards of 150,000 trucks per year coming through the township," Nalitt said. "Debris was landing all over the roadway."

Riggs said that the 1,600-home Toll Bros. Regency subdivision planned off Mounts Mills Road is located on two such former mines — the Toto mine and the Etsch mine.

Nalitt said that through "creative zoning" and limits that were put into place regarding mining, all but Stavola eventually closed.

"We established limits that they could only be active on 30 acres at a time within a calendar year," Riggs said.

An application for a 2004 mining permit on the property was approved at Monday night’s Township Council meeting.

"He’ll be able to mine on the other half of the property," Riggs said.

Riggs and Nalitt said, however, that the mining will likely cease by the time the Barnes & Noble facility is completed, partly due to the increasing property values and unavailability of certain types of land.

"He’ll make a lot more money selling the property [than continuing to mine]," Riggs said.