Construction of Lowe’s gets clearance to begin

Borough getting
$1 million now
to smooth traffic

BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer

Construction of Lowe’s
gets clearance to begin
Borough getting
$1 million now
to smooth traffic
BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer

Lowe’s Home Centers Inc. has obtained a building permit to start construction of its new 161,673-square-foot store on Route 35 south, Eatontown, at the former Bendix site.

Mayor Gerald J. Tarantolo said Lowe’s officials had indicated after receiving site plan approval that they were optimistic the store would be built and "on the books" by January.

"That’s very aggressive," he acknowledged, referring to the date only five months away. "That kind of surprised me. But they have it down to a science, they claim, in putting these kinds of facilities up.

"Even if they slip by a couple of months, that’s quite a track record," the mayor added.

Project manager Benjamin Geltzeiler, of Milric Construction Corp., Neptune, the principal contractor on the job, confirmed the January schedule.

"That is the intent," Geltzeiler said. "I would say the building should be completed by the end of January," barring a lot of rain or other bad weather.

The building permit was issued July 19 after Lowe’s paid a fee of $49,128.

Lowe’s, headquartered in Wilkesboro, N.C., also had to pay $250,000 to the borough as the first half of a $500,000 contribution for affordable housing to be developed in town. The second half of the payment is due when the certificate of occupancy is issued.

The affordable-housing payment was dictated by the court as part of a settlement of Mount Laurel builder’s-remedy litigation in town.

To meet the requirements of the state Council on Affordable Housing, developers have to make payments to fund the construction or rehabilitation of low- and moderate-income housing in the borough. But because the value of the Lowe’s property has been enhanced by rezoning, the straight formula in the borough ordinance did not apply and the COAH fee had to be negotiated.

The tract on which the Lowe’s store is being built formerly lay in an M/B (manufacturing and business office) zone, which did not allow retail. That zoning was changed for Lowe’s to permit a retail use, thus enhancing the value of the land on which the com­pany is building.

Lowe’s also is paying $1 million to the borough now, out of the $1.2 million it previously agreed to put up for off-site traffic improvements under an amendment to the developer’s agree­ment the council approved July 14. The borough will get what remains of the $200,000 balance after the state De­partment of Transportation makes im­provements it wants.

Lowe’s also has the permit it needs from the DOT to proceed with construc­tion because Route 35, where the home center will be lo­cated, is a state high­way.

Borough Business Administrator Michael L. Trotta said by getting the $1 million now, the borough will be able to start making the traffic improve­ments needed right away, so as to have them in place to smooth traffic when the store opens or soon after.

Tarantolo observed that the Lowe’s Home Center is being built on a 26-acre site and said the Planning Board, on which he sits, did the approvals with the environment in mind.

"The project retains a green area around three-quarters of the property, and aesthetics certainly was a factor [in those decisions]," he said. "All those ingredients were incorporated as part of the site plan."

Before construction could begin, pre-existing contamination of the site had to be reme­diated. Lowe’s dealt di­rectly with the state Department of En­vironmental Protection on that issue.

"We worked on this project for quite a long time," Tarantolo said. "It went through a very rigorous site-plan-ap­proval process.

"I was very pleased with the way the process worked," he added. "We iden­ti­fied the caveats of the project and worked with Lowe’s to resolve a lot of concerns."

Tarantolo said the Lowe’s store is good for Eatontown.

"This should be a real plus for the borough — not to mention a very large ratable," he said.

The fee for the building permit in­cluded $37,905 for construction of the building, $3,475 for the electric compo­nent, $1,011 for the plumbing, $6,697 for the state Department of Community Af­fairs permit fee, and $40 for the certifi­cate of occupancy inspection down the road.

The permit was issued for construc­tion of a 134,574-square-foot retail store with a 27,099-square-foot garden center and "associated work" in accordance with the Planning Board approval granted Sept. 8.

The garden center will be located at the south end of the masonry and steel building and will not be en­closed, although part of it will be under roof.

The estimated cost of the building is $4,781,664.