Last piece of land destroyed in historic Passaic fire will 'bring hope' once developed

Matt Fagan, NorthJersey.com
·3 min read

Almost 38 years after the conflagration that would forever be known as the Labor Day fire, the final 17 acres on Passaic's Eastside are being developed.

The property was purchased by Stonemont Financial Group, an Atlanta-based private real estate company, and work is underway to build a 295,000-square-foot warehouse.

"This landmark project has been a long time coming, with three decades of hard work and committed efforts culminating in its construction 37 years after the massive Labor Day fire," Passaic Mayor Hector Lora said.

A drone image of the vacant lot on Eighth Street in Passaic on June 26, 2023.
A drone image of the vacant lot on Eighth Street in Passaic on June 26, 2023.

In recent weeks, Stonemont broke ground after hiring Premier Design and Build Group of Iselin to serve as its general contractor.

The former ShopRite shopping center and strip mall on Eighth Street, comprising roughly 6.5 acres of the 17-acre lot, has already been razed. Work is underway to clear the site, remove contaminated soil, and elevate all 17 acres by 5 feet, lifting the property out of the flood plain.

For Lora, the new warehouse and $115 million logistics center are among the crowning achievements of his administration, which with other investments made in recent years have led to more than $300 million in investments to the city's Eastside.

"It doesn't just bring jobs; it brings hope," Lora said. "It allows our youth to dream."

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Work crews move or remove soil from a site that was damaged in the 1985 Labor Day fire. By next spring there should be a 295,000-square-foot warehouse on Eighth street in Passaic.
Work crews move or remove soil from a site that was damaged in the 1985 Labor Day fire. By next spring there should be a 295,000-square-foot warehouse on Eighth street in Passaic.

Lora said that with the help of his business administrator, Rick Fernandez, and Joe Buga, project manager of the city's Urban Enterprise Zone, the administration has successfully attracted a number of developers into the city.

The city's pro-development stance attracted investors like Joe Smouha, whose company Mynt Properties bought troubled properties like the former Botany Mills and more recently both the vacant 10 acres from the Labor Day fire and the abandoned ShopRite shopping center on Eighth Street.

Brian Danahy, a vice president at Stonemont, said his company expects to open the warehouse by next spring and potentially add hundreds of jobs in the city. He also expects to work out a tax abatement plan with the city.

The Passaic Labor Day fire on Sept. 2, 1985, gutted houses and torched cars, leaving smoldering rubble and hulks.
The Passaic Labor Day fire on Sept. 2, 1985, gutted houses and torched cars, leaving smoldering rubble and hulks.

Lora said he supports the tax abatement because of the extensive cleanup on the site and the commitment Stonemont has made in hiring local workers.

Danahy said the worker-dense population that Passaic offers is part of what makes the location so attractive.

"Usually the first question they ask is 'Where will we get workers?'" Danahy said.

Iggy Armenia, senior vice president of JLL Realtors, noted that warehouses in the New York metropolitan area are highly sought.

"The buying power in this section of the Northeast is equal to that of France," Armenia said.

The Labor Day fire

A scene from the Labor Day fire, Sept. 2, 1985, in Passaic, around 4 p.m. on Eighth Street.
A scene from the Labor Day fire, Sept. 2, 1985, in Passaic, around 4 p.m. on Eighth Street.

On Sept. 2, 1985, two youths playing with matches set in motion the fire that would destroy about two dozen homes, more than a dozen factories and roughly 20% of the city's industrial base. Some 2,000 jobs were lost, and hundreds were left homeless.

In all 150 firefighters fought the blaze for more than 12 hours, and an estimated 2.2 million in industrial space was lost.

Emergency crews took cover as the Passaic fire caused a wall of a building to collapse near Ninth Street in Passaic, N.J., on September 2, 1985. Six former textile buildings and 17 multifamily homes are destroyed by fire, forcing the evacuation of 400 people. The blaze which began around 2:30 p.m. destroyed the facilities of more than 50 manufacturers in the complex along the Passaic River.

While portions of the 22 acres that were destroyed have been rebuilt — Verizon opened a location on 5 acres across Eighth Street, and in 1994 a 60,000-square-foot ShopRite and strip mall opened — ultimately most of the property has lain fallow for years.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Passaic NJ mayor talks importance of warehouse development