Warehouses could replace Route 22 office park in Bridgewater
BRIDGEWATER – For years real estate experts have said the era of the suburban office park is over.
That may be coming true on Tuesday when the township Zoning Board of Adjustment begins public hearings on a plan to tear down four office buildings on eastbound Route 22 to build two warehouses.
Signature Acquisitions, of Cranford, owner of the buildings in the Centerpointe complex, has proposed demolishing four office buildings and constructing two warehouses, one 138,000 square feet and the other 141,000 square feet, on the 20-acre site.
The plan calls for 19 tractor-trailer parking stalls and 73 loading bays.
The plan also includes 5,000 square feet of office space. No tenants have been announced.
The plan must be reviewed by the zoning board because warehouse use is not permitted on a portion of the site on the highway between Gaston Avenue and Adamsville Road.
Somerville officials have already expressed opposition because of concerns that trucks will use borough streets to get to the site east of the Gaston Avenue intersection with the highway.
The main worry, Somerville Mayor Dennis Sullivan previously said, is how trucks traveling on westbound Route 22 from Interstate 287 will gain access the site.
Local:Bridgewater raises bar for warehouse development
Trucks traveling westbound on the highway will have to go to North Bridge Street, then cross over the highway to Grove Street then back to eastbound Route 22, he said.
Somerville officials fear that trucks may take an alternate route, exiting Route 287 at Route 28 and driving into Somerville.
But, because Somerville passed an ordinance this summer banning trucks of more than 4 tons from Gaston Avenue from Route 28 to Route 22 and on Grove, Bridge and Davenport streets from Main Street to Route 22, the trucks may use Main Street to get to Mountain Avenue, which has no weight limit and is under county jurisdiction, to get to eastbound Route 22.
Sullivan said that the borough is waiting for the applicant's traffic study before deciding whether to commission its own traffic study to determine the project's impact on the county seat.
A traffic study, prepared by Stonefield Engineering and Design for the developer, concluded the project "would not have a significant impact on the traffic operations of the adjacent roadway network."
In fact, the study concluded, the development "would generate significantly less trips as compared with the existing office use."
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: Bridgewater: Warehouses could replace Route 22 office park
