BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer
Sabert Corp. is moving ahead with plans to purchase land in Sayreville’s waterfront area for use as its new world headquarters.
The borough-based company wants to expand by building a new 171,860-square-foot facility off Main Street Extension on land currently owned by the Middlesex County Utilities Authority. Sabert would also continue to operate its existing facility at Main Street and Crossman Road.
The Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA) on June 8 voted unanimously to extend Sabert’s designation as the conditional redeveloper through September. Sabert, which began operations in 1982, is in the process of getting its wetland delineation approved by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), according to SERA Executive Director Randy Corman.
Sabert manufactures plastic food packaging solutions for food service distribution, supermarkets, packers, processors, national accounts and consumer markets. The markets include major customers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Sysco Food Services, Sodexho, Wegmans, Food Lion, Subway, Arby’s, Applebee’s and others.
Sabert’s proposed facility would include 4,500 square feet for the lobby, 45,580 square feet of office space, 21,100 square feet for research and development, and 100,680 square feet for distribution and warehouse space. The property size is 12.5 acres.
The two-story office building would house all administrative and executive functions, including a training center. It would also have 16 loading docks and over 150 parking spaces.
Sabert will not be able to develop on the entire tract because of the wetlands, and Corman said the DEP will determine the amount of land that can be developed.
“Once they are in a position to sign a redevelopment agreement, they will be able to purchase the land and take a site plan to the Planning Board,” Corman said, adding that the MCUA would prefer to sell the property to SERA for fair market value to avoid selling it directly to a private company. SERA would then convey the title to Sabert.
The various parties have yet to determine a purchase price on the MCUA land.
The Sayreville project would allow Sabert to further its efforts in new product development and new technologies, marketing and sales support areas. Sabert is currently renting outside storage areas due to insufficient distribution space at its current site. In a June 8 presentation to SERA, the company also cited a need for space to run more production lines. It requires that the distribution be in close proximity to manufacturing.
Sabert’s presentation indicated that the project would “create new, higher-paying, ‘white collar’ jobs,” while also bringing more manufacturing and warehousing jobs to the borough. The project would also maximize use of the land.
Sabert’s current location is in front of the steel mill at Main Street and Crossman Road, where its manufacturing operations and administrative offices are located. The facility functions as the company’s international headquarters.
Sabert would keep its existing plant, which would strictly be used for manufacturing purposes.
Three major expansion projects have increased the current facility from 50,000 to 250,000 square feet.
“They started small and they are getting big,” Corman said, describing the company as “a Sayreville success story.”
Sabert Director of Purchasing Burt Schaeffer has been with the company for over five years.
“I love it here,” he said. “This is a company that is so progressive, so well-managed and successful. That is why we need this facility, because we are growing so rapidly.”
Schaeffer said that the procedure of assessing the wetlands should take the DEP four to six months, adding that the process started in late May.
“We are really looking forward to expanding in Sayreville,” Schaeffer said. “This should help us support the growth we are anticipating, particularly in the areas of staff and research and development. The town has been good to us. They have been supportive at all levels.”
Mayor Kennedy O’Brien said that Sabert is noteworthy for its service to the community by providing employment to residents and scholarships to students in area schools. He cited Sabert President Albert Salamaw for his leadership in terms of his employees and his host community.
“Sabert Corp. is one of the best examples of a corporate resident a town can have,” O’Brien said.