Franklin office buildings may be replaced by warehouses
FRANKLIN (Somerset) – The trend of demolishing office buildings and other structures to make way for warehouses in Central Jersey has come to the northeastern corner of the township.
The Davidson Avenue neighborhood, off the Easton Avenue interchange with Interstate 287, was the center of explosive office building and hotel development in the '80s and ‘90s.
But now the township is considering a proposal to tear down office buildings that were once considered state-of-the-art prized real estate and replace them with warehouses.
The proposal is scheduled to be heard by the township Planning Board on July 19.
EWA Somerset 400 Owner LCC is proposing to demolish a 349,445-square-foot office building with 1,200 parking spaces at 400-600 Atrium Drive and build two warehouse buildings, one 294,400-square-feet and the other 132,000-square-feet.
The first building would have 151 parking spaces and the second would have 103 parking spaces.
EWA Somerset 400 Owner is a joint venture of EverWest Real Estate Investors of Manhattan and Woodmont Properties of Fairfield. The business brought the 28-acre property on Sept. 1, 2021 for $42.7 million.
“Somerset is one of the fastest-growing industrial submarkets in the New Jersey market, with limited existing availability, modest new speculative construction and a growing list of major users and investors turning their interest toward the area,” a company spokesman said in a news release. “This project will make the most of those fundamentals, capitalizing on a location that provides immediate access to I-287 while leveraging the area’s excellent labor pool.”
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In Bridgewater, Signature Acquisitions is also proposing demolishing four office buildings and constructing two warehouses, one 138,000-square-feet and the other 141,000-square-feet, on the 20-acre Route 22 site known as Centerpointe.
The Bridgewater Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to continue hearing that proposal later this month. The plan has drawn opposition from neighboring Somerville over truck traffic concerns.
Bridgewater recently approved a plan by M&M at 206 LLC to build a 211,540-square-foot warehouse and light manufacturing facility at 721 Route 202-206 on the west side of the highway just north of Bridgewater Audi and Allen Road, a site once was occupied by an office building. The proposal now calls for a light manufacturing facility on the site.
In Warren, the township is being sued by Somerset Associates, the owner of the vacant office building once occupied by Chubb next to I-78, for rejecting an ordinance rezoning the 115-acre property to allow warehouses and logistic structures.
The Warren Township Committee voted to introduce the rezoning ordinance in March 2022, but after residents opposed the plan, the ordinance was defeated the following month.
The property, which backs to I-78, has a 600,000-square-foot office building that has been vacant for six years.
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: Franklin office buildings may be replaced by warehouses
