SAYREVILLE, NJ—North American Properties has revealed plans for “Riverton,” a $2.5 billion, 418-acre, shovel-ready waterfront redevelopment on the Raritan River, in a joint venture with New Jersey-based PGIM Real Estate. The project will occupy a former brownfield site that represents one of the largest tracts available for development in New Jersey.
It is believed to be the largest mixed-use project in New Jersey history, and one of the most comprehensive, aggressive plans in the United States.
“We create great, walkable places that connect people to each other; cities to their souls; partners to opportunities; and individuals to experiences that move them,” says Mark Toro, managing partner, North American Properties in Atlanta. “We are bringing together a world-leading visionary team to create New Jersey's next great hometown, advancing the community-building skillsets we developed at Avalon.”
NAP hopes to deliver a $2.5 billion community that combines residential, retail, entertainment, marina, office and hotel in a carefully curated street level experience, highly-programmed gathering spaces and resort-inspired hospitality. Passive recreation and open space will complement the built environment, along with an array of public and civic uses focused on more than a mile of riverfront located within 20 miles of Lower Manhattan.
The development is planned for the former site of the National Lead paint company, which has been dormant for decades and in recent years has been remediated. The project will create a downtown village setting that mixes retail, restaurants, office space, hotels, parks and a marina.
About 600,000 vehicles traverse the Driscoll Bridge, at Exit 125 of the Garden State Parkway, each day, and considerably more in the summer months. The newly opened exit supplements exceptional access already afforded by interchanges on Route 9 and Route 35, rivaling virtually any site in the United States for unimpeded access to America's most coveted marketplace, the New York metropolitan area.
NAP describes the project as “a national example of next-generation, mixed-use development, placing 'heart share over market share' in creating New Jersey's next hometown.”
In the development of plans for the community, the NAP team visited many suburban New Jersey communities, including Montclair, Summit, Spring Lake, Princeton, Westfield, Red Bank, Asbury Park and Hoboken.
NAP will introduce the next generation of commercial real estate to the site, one of the largest brownfield remediations in New Jersey history and widely considered the largest developable tract along a major transportation corridor in the United States. The result will be a vibrant community that will generate tens of thousands of jobs, millions of dollars in ongoing tax revenue and a magnetic attraction for the 20 million people who live in the New York metropolitan region, and for the millions of others who visit each year.
Key public approvals for this site were initially obtained in 2014. However, NAP has thoroughly updated the redevelopment plan, and has begun the process of securing the necessary state and local approvals required to implement the new Riverton project.
The project has received strong support from state leaders, as well as the leadership of Middlesex County and the Borough of Sayreville. A critical component of the project financing will be the continuing support from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) through the Economic Redevelopment & Growth Program (ERG), which EDA approved in 2014 and will be asked to reaffirm for the updated vision.
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Steve Lubetkin
Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].
