Diamond Nation baseball and softball complex in Hunterdon eyes new business venture
RARITAN TOWNSHIP – Diamond Nation wants to get into the self-storage business.
The baseball complex, on the corner of River and Bartles Corner roads, has applied to the township for approval to build a self-storage facility on the property now used for overflow parking on the east side of River Road.
The township Planning Board is scheduled to hear the proposal to build the three-story, 126,672-square-foot facility at 7 p.m. Dec. 13.
Though the self-storage facility is proposed to be the principal use, the 4.89-acre property will remain the location of overflow parking for Diamond Nation.
According to its website, Diamond Nation is the largest turf baseball and softball training complex in America. The 100-acre campus has 125,000 square feet of indoor facilities, 700,000 square feet of turf fields and the ability to play up to 12 games simultaneously. There are also 18 batting cages, a full-service concession stand and a 360-degree watch tower for college coaches and professional scouts.
Diamond Nation also hosts a baseball academy led by former major leaguer Jack Cust and a softball academy led by three-time Olympian Jennie Finch.
Diamond Nation is asking for several variances, including front yard setback, impervious coverage, signs, parking, loading in the front yard, size and number of signs and lighting requirements.
Also see: Middlesex County spending plan for new Rutgers baseball stadium in Edison increased to $200 million
According to an article in Yahoo Finance, the national growth in the number of multi-family buildings has spurred a boom in the self-storage business.
The report also says that 162,000 apartments were built in the metropolitan area in the past decade. But the average size of an apartment was 842 square feet, producing the need for off-site storage.
Almost 3.4 million square feet of storage space was built in the last decade in the metropolitan area, according to report. But even that amount did not meet demand.
In Raritan Township, hundreds of apartments have been developed within a few miles of the proposed facility at Diamond Nation, including The Willows and the Residences at Raritan Town Square on Junction Road and the Enclave at Raritan by HealthQuest off Route 31.
On Dec. 21, the township Zoning Board of Adjustment will consider a proposal to build an 88,000-square-foot self-storage facility at 57-59 Voorhees Corner Road, just east of Route 202. Two single-family homes are proposed to be demolished to make way for the facility
In November, the township Planning Board unanimously approved a proposal to build a 50,000-square-foot warehouse at 20-22 Minneakoning Road.
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 today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Diamond Nation NJ baseball, softball complex eyes new business venture
