While their contents remain a mystery, tanks found underground at the site of the future parking deck on Pearl Street in Metuchen will not throw a major monkey wrench into the builder’s plans, officials said.
“We still don’t expect any significant delay,” Metuchen Parking Authority Chairman Len Roseman said.
Nexus Parking — the developer of the six-level parking deck slated for construction on the Parking Authority-owned Pearl Street parking lot — discovered the tanks during excavation of the site in July.
Whether empty or full, the tanks must be removed from the ground, testing must be done and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) must inspect the property to ensure that no contamination is left behind there.
“They’ve extracted several tanks from the ground,” Roseman said. “There is some material that needs to be tested … to establish what’s in it.”
Roseman said previously that oil or diesel fuel is a likely suspect, considering that a trucking company inhabited the site about 50 years ago.
Councilman Jay Muldoon said while he’s uncertain how long the testing process would take, officials will be forthcoming with the results when they become available.
The 750-space parking deck will go hand-in-hand with the residential and retail portions of the Pearl Street Piazza, with shared spots for residents of the new development, commuters and visitors.
Woodmont Properties is working on the larger portion of the lot to construct 273 residential rentals — 134 one-bedroom, 130 two-bedroom and nine three-bedroom units — along with close to 11,500 square feet of retail space and an outdoor public piazza. The Parking Authority recently closed deals with both developers. Nexus Parking signed a 40-year lease with the Parking Authority that provides for the sharing of profits from the deck between the two entities.
For the first 29 years of the lease, Nexus will give the Parking Authority 30 percent of net profits from the facility in lieu of rent. For the remainder of the lease, the split changes to half and half, officials said.
At the end of the lease, the Parking Authority will take ownership of the deck.
As owner of the property, the Parking Authority must take responsibility for any remediation deemed necessary on that portion of the site.
According to Roseman, the Parking Authority — which is an independent entity from the borough — placed a $600,000 ceiling on costs it would pay for any cleanup of the site. For anything beyond that, the Parking Authority would negotiate with Nexus to share costs, he said.
Woodmont paid the Parking Authority $7.1 million for the 3-acre portion of the lot on which the remainder of the project will be built.