Last year, North Bergen officials designated more than 570,000 square feet of Tonnelle Avenue as the development area for a new shopping center, but those plans have changed. New plans for the targeted area, where the current K-Mart and Marshall’s stores now stand, are structured to encourage more retail outlets to come to town. The shift in strategy, unveiled at last week’s Planning Board meeting, was prompted by plans to demolish the long-vacant Evan-Picone warehouse and build a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center there by Christmas. The warehouse is next to the K-Mart/Marshall’s site, and was originally part of the area earmarked for a new shopping center. According to township administrator Joseph Auriemma, the deal between Lowe’s and the owners of the Evan-Picone building made the township reconsider their initial plans for the K-Mart/Marshall’s development area. “We first looked at the area for potential development as one area calling for 577,000 square feet of retail,” Auriemma said. “Because of the deal with Lowe’s, we’re not going to get anyone wanting to develop a site as originally anticipated. So we wanted to downsize the area to perhaps 200,000 square feet and see if it would fit at the site. It’s a significant downsize from the original plan.” Because of the downsize, Auriemma said that the township may have to look to other developers who perhaps didn’t have the means to develop such a large retail shopping center, but could develop a smaller one. The initial development deal called for Forest City Ratner/Treeco – the same development group that built the newly opened Columbia Park shopping center adjacent to Schuetzen Park on Kennedy Boulevard – to build a new shopping center. The Planning Board decided to rescind the designation to Forest City Ratner/Treeco. The downsizing will now open the door for other developers to submit proposals. Auriemma said that there is a possibility to strike a deal with Forest City Ratner/Treeco. “However, that might not be the best thing to do in terms of perception,” Auriemma said. “It may look like we’re playing favorites because we’ve had such success with Forest City Ratner/Treeco. Although Forest City Ratner/Treeco has done an excellent job with Columbia Park, we don’t want anyone to think we’re not fair. We feel that other developers should not be excluded from the potential to develop the site. We want to put it out there again and see what happens.” Forest City Ratner/Treeco officials believe that they still have a chance to act as the developer for the site. Auriemma said that the group remained a solid player in the development plans. “They are still interested, but to what degree, we’re not sure,” Auriemma said. “We had a very productive meeting last week in determining what the new deal will mean.” Couldn’t hurt Auriemma also said that he wouldn’t mind having Forest City Ratner/Treeco has part of the plan. “It obviously couldn’t hurt,” Auriemma said. “They already have a track record of success in the town. That’s why restructuring the initial plan was such a tough decision. The real issue isn’t with Forest City Ratner/Treeco. It’s with getting other developers involved. But we don’t want to appear like we’re giving anyone preferential treatment.” Auriemma said that he has already received several phone calls from possible developers who would be interested in developing on the site. “It may turn out to be in everyone’s advantage,” Auriemma said. “The site is still 400,000 square feet, after the Evan-Picone deal. At least now, we don’t have to worry about it all coming from one developer.” Auriemma said that he hopes to establish some sort of a solidified development plan for the newly restructured area by the end of the summer.
A new plan for Tonnelle: North Bergen decides to reshape development plan
