A two-phase plan to redevelop 12 acres at the Metropark train station in Woodbridge would include 244,524 square feet of corporate and medical office space that will include a new headquarters for Hackensack Meridian Health, plus 235 apartments developed by a partnership of Russo Development, Onyx Equities and Terminal Construction. — Rendering courtesy: HMH
By Joshua Burd
The state has pledged nearly $114 million in tax credits over 10 years to a project that would transform the Metropark train station in Woodbridge, where plans call for 235 apartments and nearly 250,000 square feet of office and medical space for Hackensack Meridian Health.
The award, which the Economic Development Authority approved Thursday under New Jersey’s Aspire program, will support a long-discussed plan that’s being spearheaded by Russo Development, Onyx Equities and Terminal Construction. Officials say the project will have a 325,301-square foot residential component with 188 market-rate and 47 affordable units, plus nearly 12,000 square feet of retail space, as well as 244,524 square feet of corporate and medical office space that will include a new headquarters for Hackensack Meridian.
The approval came a day before state officials were slated to join the hospital network and the development team for a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site, which abuts the Northeast Corridor rail line and sits at the nexus of Route 27 and the Garden State Parkway. According to the EDA, construction on the medical and office phase will begin in June, while the residential phase is slated to begin in 2027.
“EDA’s Aspire was instrumental toward redevelopment at the Metropark site and enabled a creative, mixed-use project anchored by Hackensack Meridian Health,” said Ron Simoncini, a spokesman for the development team.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced in fall 2022 that the state had picked DOR Woodbridge LLC, the group that includes Russo, Onyx and Terminal, to redevelop a 12.4-acre parking lot at Metropark. The recipients of Thursday’s Aspire award will be both the development entity and Hackensack Meridian Ambulatory Care Inc., a nonprofit that will provide medical services and health and wellness education to be provided to tenants of the project and members of the community.
To that end, HMH will provide services such as primary care, medical specialties, surgical specialties, a sports and spine center of excellence, advanced imaging, phlebotomy, rehabilitation services, a retail pharmacy, occupational health services and urgent care. Billed as a first-of-its-kind health care facility at a transit hub, the project will look to serve the apartment renters, commuters at Metropark and the broader public.
Those services will emanate from a seven-story building that Hackensack Meridian will lease from DOR Woodbridge, according to an EDA board memo. The building will also include 142,916 square feet of corporate office space for HMH’s headquarters, which is currently based nearby, as well as the roughly 60,000-square-foot medical office component.
The 235-unit residential portion will occupy a six-story building with floorplans ranging from studio to three bedrooms, the authority said. Tenants will have access to a pool, a modern fitness facility, a café and coffee station, a club room with a movie and media wall and other amenities, as well as 11,976 square feet of retail space and 449 covered garage parking spaces for tenants.
The Aspire tax credit award equates to 50 percent of the total project costs, up to $113.65 million for the total project, and the sum of the lesser, for each phase, of 50 percent of eligible costs or $60 million, the EDA said. Officials have noted with past approvals that Aspire, which was created by the New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020, is a place-based economic development program to support mixed-use, transit-oriented development with tax credits to commercial and residential projects that have financing gaps.
All residential Aspire projects must include at least 20 percent affordable housing, while applicants must certify that all commitments established at time of approval have been met before receiving their first disbursement of tax credits.
Russo, Onyx and Terminal to lead transformation of NJ Transit’s Metropark station
