$1B Fort Redevelopment Gets Key Approval

EATONTOWN, NJ-Plans to redevelop the 1,100-acre Fort Monmouth after its intelligence-gathering and related operations are moved to Aberdeen, MD in 2011–as mandated by the Pentagon’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission–took a major step forward this week when the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority voted 6 to 2 to accept current plans for the site. FMERPA is a state agency formed in 2006 to figure out what to do with the soon-to-be-vacated base.

Formal plans were rolled out in March, and during a series of contentious public hearings, were revised. The latest version, just approved by FMERPA, was unveiled in July.

Carrying an estimated price tag of $1 billion, the redevelopment plans call for 1,500 new residences including 400 classified as “affordable,” two hotels, office space, a medical facility and other uses. With the installation sprawling across three towns, the plan’s approximately 1.5 million sf of total building space would be focused on three “town centers.” Approximately 450 acres would be set aside as open space.