Branchburg, developer back at planning stage following out-of-court settlement
BRANCHBURG – The township Planning Board has started hearing a proposal to construct two buildings on Industrial Parkway with a combined size of 10 football fields, connect the two dead ends of Industrial Parkway and construct a new traffic light on Readington Road.
Applicant AAVLBR Property has also agreed to give Midland School a total of $250,000 to construct a new driveway off Industrial Parkway to serve its Adult Services Center. The developer will pay $200,000 for the actual construction and $50,000 for associated costs, including engineering and legal fees.
Shawn McInerney, president and CEO of Midland School, told the board on Tuesday that the school has worked "very collaboratively" with the developer and is satisfied that the plan for the new driveway will mitigate any problems caused by connecting both ends of Industrial Parkway.
Midland will submit a separate application to the board for the new driveway. AAVLBR has also offered to share its contractor with Midland to reduce the cost.
AAVLBR has proposed developing to the 50-acre lot, known as the Vollers Tract, that separates the two parts of Industrial Parkway south of the NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line. The two ends of Industrial Parkway now empty onto Readington Road and County Line Road which both lead to traffic lights on Route 22.
AAVLBR, of Englewood, is planning to subdivide the 50 acres into two parcels, one 30 acres and the other 20 acres. The proposal calls for a 423,136-square-foot building on the larger lot while a 145,429-square-foot building is planned for the smaller lot.
Jeremy Lange, director of development for Active Acquisitions, the umbrella firm of AAVLBR Property, told the board the buildings are being built on speculation and there are no tenants.
The buildings will be used for light manufacturing, packaging and storage, he said.
"We know the demand is there," he said.
The firm has held "several high-level discussions" with potential tenants, he said, but tenants do not want to commit until the township approves the plans.
"They need predictability," Lange said.
The pandemic, Lange explained, has prompted a lot of light manufacturing and packaging to return to the United States because of supply chain issues.
"A lot of people are trying to fill that need," Lange said.
That is creating a demand for light manufacturing facilities, he said.
Because of its location next to the railroad and the school, Lange said the operations at the buildings will not involve hazardous substances.
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The development proposal is the result of an out-of-court settlement of litigation brought by AAVLBR against a township zoning ordinance prohibiting warehouses in industrial zones.
Two of the other lawsuits challenging the ordinance also ended in out-of-court settlements, resulting in approval of a medical supply company's headquarters and packaging facility on the Route 22 site of The Golf Range at Branchburg, and a redevelopment plan for Old York Road between Evans Way and Stony Brook Road that allows development of industrial and warehouse buildings. AAVLBR settled with the township in August 2021.
Henry Kent-Smith, attorney for AAVLBR, told the board that the developer was preparing plans for the construction in 2020 when the ordinance was passed.
On Sept. 9, 2020, according to the lawsuit, AAVLBR representatives met in a phone conference with the township planner and engineer to discuss the plan for a warehouse on the property and get feedback on the proposal.
But neither the planner nor engineer mentioned during the conference that the township was considering an ordinance to prohibit warehouses in the zone.
AAVLBR then revised the concept plan for the project and started work on the site plan for submission to the Planning Board.
But on Sept. 28, 2020, the Township Committee introduced an ordinance prohibiting warehouses.
If AAVLBR wanted to proceed with its warehouse plan after the ordinance passed, it would have been required to apply for a use variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment which requires more stringent standards for approval than the Planning Board.
As part of its settlement with the township, AAVLBR had to include a manufacturing component in its proposal to make it compliant with the ordinance because a warehouse is a permitted use if the property contains manufacturing.
Kent-Smith told the board that AAVLBR had "somebody on the hook" to occupy the project but the potential tenant "left us at the altar" and opted for the Transwestern development on the golf range.
"We learned a hard lesson," Kent-Smith said.
"In this marketplace you have to deliver within the time frame that tenants are looking for," he said. "If you don't deliver, they'll leave you at the altar."
The next planning board hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Dec. 13 with a Jan. 31, 2023 deadline for the board to make a decision.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Branchburg NJ: Developer eyes Industrial Parkway for packaging
