A New York City real estate firm will purchase about 65 acres at the township's Cedarbridge campus located near Pine Street and Cedar Bridge Avenue, APP reports . Somerset development was tapped by the real estate group to develop the property according to the report. Plans for a complex of office buildings and retail space. Pinnacle Group said Zucker will be joined by Meridian Capital Group, a commercial real estate finance and advisory firm, and architect Ian Bader, a partner in Pei Cobb Freed, an international architecture firm, in developing plans for the property. The goal is to create a "better environment than just a building and a parking lot," he added.
Cedarbridge has been designated an Opportunity Zone. Opportunity Zones were created as part of the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Investments in new businesses and developments in the zones, which are located in distressed areas around New Jersey, may be eligible for new tax benefits.
"Rather than just go in and build a few office buildings and have another typical suburban office campus, we are working together with Ian Bader and his team to create a great place to work, an inspired place to work," Zucker said.
The overall proposal, which will have to be approved by township planners once it's finished, will encompass several large office buildings with hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space, Zucker said. But in coming up with a master plan, ideas will take into account features such the views from the buildings, the spaces between the buildings and the creation of pedestrian streets and pocket parks, Zucker said. Retail could include a coffee shop or a place to eat lunch, he added.
In a statement, Wiener said Pinnacle has assembled a team of "leading real estate professionals, many with strong ties to the community" to work on the project's master plan.
"We are confident that we will properly and responsibly create an additional path to prosperity for Lakewood and its residents while preserving what makes Lakewood special,” Wiener said. read more at APP.com
A mall coming?
ReplyDeletedoesn't sound like a mall, sounds like coffee shops in the office buildings - which is what Bell Works has.
ReplyDeleteHow Is this considered a distressed property this is prime real estate
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable. And still getting tax abatement
Can't trust anything that is said remember how they dealt previously with the mall and shopping village.
ReplyDeleteTime for new leaders
ReplyDeleteThis Is Good news. Look at the new beautiful office buildings and the ones going up. This is what cedarbridge was meant for to create thousands of jobs for Lakewood residents.
ReplyDeleteIf this development would have happened 18 years ago, I don't think there would be as many complaints, although, even then, calling the property distressed without even attempting to sell it on the open market is a stretch. The property was valuable even then.
DeleteThe problem is that this "deal" to give away the land for free, was renewed as recently as a few years ago, when the property was worth tens of millions of dollars. that money is coming out of the taxpayers pockets. Taxpayers who have seen their property taxes skyrocket in the last few years. To add insult to injury, the free land givaways come with tax abatements that further starve the town, and most of all, the school district of funds (which is going to have to be made up by more increases in property taxes on the residents).
The other issue is, what streets are going to be able to handle all the traffic from this office complex. Pine Street is already a mass. Cedar Bridge is becoming a mess, and where are those cars entering Cedar Bridge going to come from? Main Street can't handle it.
If the town had some central planning, developed all the paper roads, didn't allow all the cul de sac developments with choke points to be built, had more through streets, than this would be manageable, and maybe even an asset.
But then again, if the town wouldn't have overdeveloped the residential side, would their be any interest in developing this office complex? Makes you wonder, was the purpose of all this over-development just to reach this point where someone could profit $60 million off of this complex? Was Lakewood intentionally destroyed with traffic, congestion, no open space, skyrocketing property taxes, just so someone could pocket $60 million?
JoeBagel
Of course, this is what r ahron zl envisioned. A lot of business and money. Who needs torah.
ReplyDeleteI think it's safe to assume r ahron probably didn't envision the size house u live in the kind of car u drive or u being on the internet
DeleteYes What happened to R Aharon's dream
Deletelets return to the Derech Ha-shem
The lakewood of R Ahron was R Elya Svei and R Chaim Epstien etc....
DeleteHow far have we fell
bnei torah that run ehrliche offices are a makom kadosh . the working world provides ample opportunity for growth in midos & madregas. this will bring great nachas to the eibishter if done right ( i am in no way affiliated with any aspect of this project)
ReplyDeleteOpposition to this has nothing to do with being opposed to the "working world".
DeleteWhen BMG got the property, it was truly worthless.
ReplyDeleteGet real.
ReplyDeleteThis today's world.
3 generation past Reb Aron ZaTZaL.
If you are 'nervous' with today's world just stay in your corner (that is a good thing) and mind your own business which is 'Torah and Avodah'.
Don't let this other Kosher Garbage get to you.
Regarding the distrwdist comment, an Opportunity Zone area is designated by the State and lowers Federal capital gains tax when development occurs. Nothing changes on the local level except it spurs growth.
ReplyDeleteLike the other commentator said we all need places to work