Redevelopment plan approved for former trailer court site on Tonnelle Avenue

NORTH BERGEN – Mayor Nicholas Sacco and the Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution at last week’s commission meeting authorizing a redevelopment plan for the area of 48th Street and Tonnelle Avenue, the former site of the now closed Manhattan Trailer Court.
Expected to break ground this year, the new development will create a transit-oriented rental community at the site. NJ Transit’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Tonnelle Avenue stop is located directly adjacent to the planned development, allowing convenient train access to Hoboken, Jersey City, or Manhattan. This amenity is expected to add to the location’s desirability significantly.
“This exciting development represents a new chapter for this neighborhood and North Bergen as a whole, and we are all very excited to see it advance,” said Sacco. “Years from now, we may look back on this as the catalyst that spurred redevelopment all throughout the southern portion of Tonnelle Avenue, just as the arrival of major retail stores sparked the incredible revitalization we have seen in the northern area of Tonnelle.”
The new development will consist of approximately 214 rental units ranging from studio apartments to one and two bedroom units, as well as amenities like a clubhouse, pool, fitness center, and more. The township has entered into a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the developer, MTC Urban Renewal Company LLC, that will provide $500,000 in annual tax revenue starting when the project reaches substantial completion.
The project is expected to create approximately 200 construction jobs while it is being built and 10 full time or part time jobs upon completion.
North Bergen’s housing market is on an apparent upswing with over 1,000 new units either under construction, approved, or planned in the township. This comes after a 2 percent increase in the township’s total assessed valuations from 2014 to 2015, the first time in three years that assessed valuations have increased, reflecting the improving economy.