HOLMDEL, NJ-Township officials have postponed a vote on the proposed redevelopment plan for the former Bell Labs site here after property owner Alcatel-Lucent filed a letter protesting the vote, reports the Asbury Park Press.
Hours before a scheduled 1 p.m. vote on a redevelopment plan for the property, Alcatel-Lucent attorney Stephen Eisdorfer, of Hill Wallack LLP in Princeton filed: “There is no urgency for Holmdel Township Committee to adopt such a poorly thought through and dysfunctional redevelopment plan for the Alcatel-Lucent study area,” the Independent quotes from the letter.
The letter notes that the Township’s plan calls for the preservation of the vacant two-million-square-foot building, preventing Alcatel-Lucent or a future owner from demolishing or making significant changes, and prevents subdivision. The filing meant that a supermajority of at least four of the five Holmdel Township Committee members had to approve the redevelopment plan. Township Committeeman Rocco Pascucci did not attend the meeting, the APP reported.
Alcatel-Lucent is again trying to sell the property after recently ending its relationship with Somerset Development, which had planned to create a health and wellness-oriented facility. It had opposed the Dec. 20 vote.
“We don’t think it is appropriate to be doing a redevelopment vote at this point,” Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward told GlobeSt.com prior to the postponement. “The plan as I understand it is based on a developer who no longer has a relationship with us.”
The township held a public hearing at 1 p.m. on Dec. 20 to discuss revisions to the plan. Originally scheduled for 7 p.m., the hearing was moved to earlier in the day to avoid conflicting with the first night of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah.
Designed by Eero Saarinen and built in 1962, the two-million-square-foot Bell Labs research facility saw the creation of the transistor, microwave transmission and cell phone technology, accomplished with the aid of five Nobel Laureates and more than 6,000 employees, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2006, however, Alcatel/Lucent Technologies, owner of Bell Labs, announced plans to relocate and sell the property. Ward said the property remains on the market.
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