The Pulse Power building, a two-story, 26,476-square-foot structure within the Tinton Falls section of the former Fort Monmouth property — Courtesy: Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority
By Joshua Burd
State officials have extended the deadline for offers to buy more than 30 acres at the former Fort Monmouth property, where redevelopment efforts are ongoing.
The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, or FMERA, is seeking a buyer for a swath of the property with nine buildings along Pearl Harbor and Pinebrook roads in the Tinton Falls section of the property, just east of the Garden State Parkway. Spanning nearly 64,000 square feet, the structures include administrative and research buildings, former training facilities and a pistol range.
Plans call for renovating some of the buildings and demolishing others, although FMERA indicated it was open to alternatives. Responses are now due at noon on May 11, two weeks after the agency’s original deadline.
The solicitation comes as part of the long-running effort to redevelop Fort Monmouth, which spans more than 1,100 acres across Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls. The federal government closed the base in 2011 after it had served for more than 90 years as the Army’s hub for developing communications technology, intelligence and reconnaissance services, dealing a blow to the local economy and prompting ambitious redevelopment efforts by the state.
As of mid-February, the reuse and redevelopment had activated 1 million square feet of commercial space and 116 residential units, along with civic and entertainment uses. Some 20 parcels have been sold and roughly 18 are under contract or in negotiation to be sold to or leased by developers.
With the latest parcel being offered in Tinton Falls, FMERA is requiring that offers submitted include a conceptual redevelopment plan for the entire 31.25-acre site, including acreage that currently may be vacant and/or that was unused by the Army. The largest building within the site is what’s known as the Pulse Power building, a two-story, 26,476-square-foot structure built in 1988, which includes 15,690 square feet of administrative offices and 10,786 square feet of dry lab and testing space.
The state’s reuse plan for Fort Monmouth contemplates renovating and reusing the Pulse Power building, although it will consider offers that include razing the structure for other commercial or light industrial uses, the authority said. Such an offer would require a change to the reuse plan.
As it currently stands, the plan also calls for demolishing other buildings within the site to create open space, while reusing facilities such as the pistol range and the police and fire training area.
FMERA said it will not accept offers that propose the majority of the site be used for warehouse use. Nor will it accept proposals for heavy industrial uses, other commercial uses that emit potentially disruptive sounds or substances or temporary or short-term residential facilities other than assisted living and/or nursing home facilities.
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