Page 9 - RE-NJ

EDITOR ’S
NOTE
RIGHT PLACE,
RIGHT TIME
I recall my surprise more than a
decade ago when I learned that
the New York Red Bulls trained in
Whippany, a
far cry from
their home
arena in the
urban confines
of Harrison.
Yet it’s easy to
see why — just
ask the dozens
of Fortune
500 companies that have their
headquarters or major satellite
offices in Morris County.
Ironically, it was the departure of
one such company that gave the
Red Bulls a chance to expand in
the region. As you’ll read in this
month’s cover story, the Major
League Soccer club has brought
new life to the former Honeywell
International corporate campus
in Morris Township, where it
recently debuted an 80-acre training
complex with an 88,400-square-
foot main building, eight full-size
outdoor soccer pitches and other
cutting-edge amenities. The new
RWJBarnabas Health Red Bulls
Performance Center on Columbia
Road was more than five years in
the making — the culmination of
diligent, wide-ranging outreach to
win public support for the project
— all in a bid to update the team’s
facilities and help grow youth
soccer. It’s also the product of good
timing and the ability to secure a
site that had been earmarked for
residential development.
“This is where the future of this club
will take shape,” Marc de Grandpré,
Red Bull New York president and
general manager, said during the
April 22 First Whistle event. “We’re
proud of what’s been built, but even
more, we know what it requires
of us now. This center raises the
standard. Now we must live up to
it every day we walk through these
doors or step on these pitches.”
Our May edition also highlights the
new Hackensack Meridian Health
& Wellness Center in Woodbridge.
The hospital system welcomed
business leaders and public
officials in late April to open the
™ 7
240,000-square-foot facility at NJ
Transit’s Metropark station, part
of a project that has centralized
primary and specialty care for
patients who rely on mass transit
and transformed the longtime
site of a one-dimensional surface
parking lot. That’s not to mention
serving as Hackensack Meridian’s
new headquarters, allowing it to
consolidate corporate employees
previously spread across several
office buildings.
“From a health care perspective,
this is unprecedented,” said Robert
C. Garrett, CEO of Hackensack
Meridian Health. “It’s historic
because nowhere in the country
has a health and wellness center
like the one that’s behind me today
… been established at a major
transportation hub. It’s going to give
patients and families and providers
unprecedented access to care, and
we’re really, really thrilled about
that.”
You can find those stories and
more in our latest issue, including
our coverage of two significant
development projects. In Randolph,
Woodmont Properties and Canoe
Brook Development have unveiled
199 apartments and townhome-
style rentals, providing an infusion
of housing while highlighting the
best of private- and public-sector
cooperation. In Hoboken, The
Taurasi Group is welcoming the first
residents to a collection of loft-style
condominiums, part of a landmark
adaptive reuse project that will also
have a distinctive indoor public
atrium, complete with 50,000 square
feet of vibrant, inviting retail and
restaurant space.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Enjoy the issue!
Joshua Burd
Editor
josh@re-nj.com
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