In March 2005, the township approved a lucrative land deal that gave one developer $9 million and another 36 acres of public land. The township netted $10. The Township Committee was banking on the $9 million being used as seed money for a grander project, one that eventually would bear hundreds of jobs, high-end corporate businesses and robust tax revenue. That has not happened — and in its current form, likely never will, officials acknowledge. “What we thought conceptually would work years ago won’t work anymore,” Mayor Robert W. Singer said recently of what was known for nearly a decade as the Cedarbridge Corporate Campus.
Through the years, the project repeatedly has needed to be revised in attempts to break a stalemate that has left the 237 acres of pine and oak forest off Cedar Bridge Avenue untouched for five years. The most recent revision, which is the state prefers, abandons the corporate business park plan for a more mixed-use look with a large residential component that includes affordable housing.
Two public hearings are scheduled this week — by the Planning Board tonight and the Township Committee on Thursday — regarding a report on Lakewood’s future development agenda that details the new Cedarbridge proposal. Housing always was considered out of bounds for the project, and officials acknowledge the legality of the addition needs to be examined.
The constant reformatting conveys the struggle the township has faced in getting the project off the ground as many residents, wary from the start, lose patience and grow more convinced they will be robbed of the valuable public land around the Lakewood BlueClaws’ stadium.
“I will admit I got just one side of it, but the one side I got was that what was done was to serve just one side of town,” said John Gage, 77, referring to the Orthodox Jewish population.
In 2000, the township handed over the property’s building rights to Cedarbridge Development Urban Renewal Corp., a for-profit arm of the Beth Medrash Govoha yeshiva.
Former Committeeman Charles Cunliffe went as far as to say the building delay was intentional, with the developer and current township leaders waiting until a new mixed-use plan is drafted. In 2004, the FBI even subpoenaed project records, though no charges ever were filed.
Meanwhile, progress on the project forged through a mire of bureaucratic snares, contractual setbacks and economic hiccups before last year’s recession brought it to an indefinite halt.
Cedarbridge CEO Jack Mueller outlined several contributors to the holdup, from the daunting scope and rawness of the project site to the lengthy permitting process. Before Cedarbridge signed on as developer, no general development plan existed, Mueller said. A lengthy planning process ensued that included several local and federal permits. Getting approval under the Coastal Area Facility Review Act alone typically takes two or more years.
Ralph Zucker, head of Somerset Development, placed partial blame for his pullout as Cedarbridge’s first tenant and subdeveloper on an “abnormally long” permit approval process.
“We went to contract in 2004,” said Zucker, who was to construct three 40,000-square-foot office buildings and relocate his headquarters to the site. “In 2006 we still didn’t have all the approvals in place, and at that time, the market started softening.”
A consequence of that pullout was a wasted two years, because Cedarbridge agreed not to pursue other opportunities during that time to prevent competing with Somerset.
“Somerset continually reassured Cedarbridge that it was proceeding in good faith,” Mueller said in an e-mail. “Somerset defaulted on the last day that it legally could, citing deteriorating market conditions.”
Still, in 2005, Somerset paid Cedarbridge $9 million for the building rights to what would become Pine River Village, a senior community and the only residential component linked to the corporate campus. According to minutes of a closed-door meeting, the Township Committee agreed to a sale, with the proceeds acting as “seed money for the development of the corporate park.”
Some two years earlier, Cedarbridge had transferred its building rights for the Pine River property to the Yeshiva’s Educational Endowment Fund.
“The yeshiva did not make any distributions from the Pine River proceeds held by the endowment fund for any purposes and instead has focused on reinvesting those funds in the project to ensure that Cedarbridge is successful,” said Aaron Kotler, yeshiva chief executive officer.
In August 2008, the overall project shifted from a purely corporate campus to a “regional shopping destination” with a variety of retail outlets, recreation and entertainment.
By the time the recession hit, however, many people had lost hope in the commercial project. All tenants who had signed on or expressed interest — Somerset, AIG, Walmart — backed out. Today, where what should have been 600,000 square feet of office space, according to the developer’s 2002 timetable, lies a lonely infrastructure of roads, sidewalks, traffic lights and gas lines amid acres of trees.
Singer said that with the corporate campus plan dead, the town likely will have to adhere to the state’s call for housing to build on 80 percent of the site. Without state backing, the coverage is restricted to 30 percent.
Zach Pathberg
APP
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"If zach doesn't know maybe he needs to be told about how the $10 sale came about. If he will listen or is he in their pocket too !"
ReplyDelete"The Press completely whitewashes the flip of Pine River Village and misses the point completely on the Cedarbridge Option contract."