SOMERVILLE, NJ-Somerset Development already has quite a bit on its plate: The company has just been named redeveloper of the historic former Bell Labs property in Holmdel, which it will turn into a giant mixed-use Town Center. It has been slowly doing the same in Wood-Ridge, at the former Curtiss-Wright aircraft plant.
Now, the company's Tom Michnewicz tells GlobeSt.com, it has committed to taking on a transit-oriented development beside the Somerville train station.
“They have been trying to do something for years and years on the 30-acre property adjacent to the train station,” which was given a $15.3 million makeover a couple of years ago, says Michnewicz.
In late 2008, when the town requested proposals for their ambitious revitalization project involving condominiums, the economy was already faltering – and no developers stepped up.
Since then, the town has orchestrated clean-up of the property with federal funding and worked on providing it with basic infrastructure. It has also moved to put rentals, rather than condos, into its redevelopment plan.
“Somerville is rich in history, and has a wonderful, walkable downtown,” says Michnewicz. “We love doing mixed-use transit-oriented development. The town has a vision statement, and we have a vision statement compatible with that.”
Michnewicz said Somerset plans phased construction of about 700 units, along with about 65,000 square feet of street-level retail, some community space and a parking structure. Construction would begin, says Michnewicz, when the town declares the property “ready.”
On the other side of the railroad tracks from the property, a number of apartments and a ShopRite supermarket has alreaddy been developed by Edgewood Properties.
Somerset was formally named redeveloper in Holmdel on March 13. It will close on purchase of the Eero Saarinsen-designed Bell Labs building from Alcatel-Lucent, which inherited it in the takeover of AT&T, by mid-June.
The Town Center development will include a hotel, restaurants, a 350-seat auditorium, conference center and meeting rooms inside the Bell Labs building.
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