CRANBURY: Redevelopment designation given to old munitions site

By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Managing Editor
The township has designated the Cranbury Brick Yard, which is also known as the Viridian and/or the Unexcelled property, as an area in need of redevelopment without the use of condemnation.
The Planning Board approved a resolution on Aug. 6 memorializing the amended preliminary and final site plan for the Cranbury Brick Yard, which consists of block 10, lot 10, and block 12, lot 1, along Hightstown-Cranbury Station Road. The plan includes two warehouses, one measuring approximately 1 million square feet and the other measuring about 900,000 square feet.
That night the Planning Board also approved a resolution recommending the Township Committee designate the Cranbury Brick Yard site as a non-condemnation area in need of redevelopment.
One parcel is 395 acres and has frontage along Route 130 and the other is a 19.43-acre parcel that has frontage on Brick Yard Road. The former is generally bounded by Route 130 to the west, vacant land and industrial warehouse development. Access to the property to support the industrial warehouse development after the site is remediated would be via Route 130 and Cranbury Station Road.
Unexcelled Chemical Corporation operated on the site from 1930 to 1954 and used the property to manufacture products for the US Department of Defense, including insect repellant and military munitions. An accidental explosion occurred on the property on July 21, 1954, which killed two workers, injured many others and resulted in the dispersal of live munitions throughout the site. The site was closed on July 30, 1954.
As a result of the explosion, there were two major contamination zones on the property and part of the property is subject to site remediation under the oversight of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The remediation program is ongoing, although the property owner has concluded site-wide identification and remediation of unexploded explosives.
After the developer approached the Township Committee, the committee asked its Planning Board to evaluate the property and consider whether it meets the statutory criteria for an “area in need of redevelopment” according to land use law.
The Planning Board recently released its analysis and found the property meets two of the state’s eight criteria for redevelopment area designation.
According to Township Planner Richard Preiss, the property meets the “c” and “h” criteria for redevelopment area designation. Criterion “c” means the land has been vacant for 10 years and that by reason of the nature of the soil is not likely to be developed without the redevelopment designation. Criterion “h” means the land is designated a “Smart Growth Area” by the state.
“As a result of the extensive contamination, the subject property has not been put to any economically productive use in approximately 60 years,” the report states, adding that “historic use of the subject property has resulted in significant soil and groundwater contamination throughout the property, qualifying it as a brownfield.”
The report concludes that “a clear connection exists between the current property condition and the need for public intervention” and that the “financial and other tools made available under a redevelopment designation will help facilitate the remediation and development of a property which has been contaminated and unproductive for approximately 60 years.”
The development of the property will also help boost the economy and create jobs, which is part of the state’s Smart Growth initiative.
Mr. Preiss said at the time Viridian began the cleanup of the property in 2004-05 the market for industrial and warehouse space was strong and the company expected the remediation to take a couple of years. Things are different now.“The cleanup is ongoing,” he said, adding that the next step is to lay the hard cap and the foundation for the buildings.
When the cleanup began, there were no incentive programs, like the redevelopment area designation, that would help with the process.
“Even though the township can provide tax abatements (under this designation), the applicant has not requested and the township is not providing tax abatements,” Mr. Preiss said. “They will pay full taxes going forward.”
The incentive comes from sales and use tax credits the developer will seek from the state’s Economic Development Authority, according to Mr. Preiss, which will allow them to offer their tenants certain advantages that will help level the playing field with states competitive in the warehouse space market.
The applicant’s attorney, Kate Coffey, said her client seeks the redevelopment area designation because it took “seven years and 30 percent more dollars” to cleanup the site than the developer had anticipated. She also said the commercial development market has changed and state programs to aid with the cleanup process didn’t exist at the start of the project.
“We need to put together a competitive package for tenants,” she said, adding that the developer seeks to fill each warehouse on the property with one “major household name tenant” each.
The Township Committee voted 5-0 to adopt a resolution to designate the Cranbury Brick Yard an area in need of redevelopment without condemnation at its Aug. 10 meeting.
Mayor James “Jay” Taylor said he’s been wracking his brain trying to find a disadvantage of re-designating the area and couldn’t find one.
He said Cranbury pays a tremendous amount of taxes to the state and “would finally be getting something back from the state for those taxes.”
Deputy Mayor Dan Mulligan said the warehouse development would not have an impact on the township’s affordable housing quota.
He added, “This is the perfect use of this program and I hope we can continue to use it to change what is needed in the township.”
Committeeman David Cook said he applauds what the Planning Board did.
“The developer has had a hardship above all of the other entities,” he said, adding that the tax ratable aspect of the project will provide Cranbury relief in the future. 