News Release 6/13/16 • *Photos by Paul W. Wang
PERTH AMBOY – Commercial Development Company Inc. (CDC) conducted a demolition today for an additional building at the former ASARCO site in Perth Amboy, NJ. Building 2 will has been razed to clear the way for phase 2 of the “Bridgeport Logistic Center”.
Demolition of Building 2 at 1160 State Street was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Monday, June 13, 2016. Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz was joined by PARA board members, and other city officials and Steve Collins and representatives of Commercial Development.
“As we continue the demolition phase of this project, we move one step closer to transforming this blighted manufacturing site into a productive asset for the community,” said Steve Collins, Executive Vice President at Commercial Development Company, Inc.
This large demolition project has been ongoing since April 2015 and will raze 13 structures totaling an area of 253,270 square feet. ENRC LLC, a New Jersey-based company with over 25 years’ experience in demolition and environmental remediation services, is performing asbestos abatement and demolition.
CDC has been preparing for new development since it acquired the site in 2009. CDC is partnering with Bridge Development Partners, LLC to construct two industrial buildings totaling over one million square feet. Construction will begin in 2017.
“Perth Amboy’s geographically bounded by the Raritan River, Arthur Kill, and Raritan Bay provides port access to the Atlantic Ocean for national and international marine traffic, most notably the Port of New York and New Jersey,” said Mayor Wilda Diaz. “Because of the location, this renewed property investment with Bridge and Commercial Development will boost our local economy and develop business opportunities in the area within the next 18-24 months.”
The City of Perth Amboy’s Redevelopment Agency and the administration played a critical role in moving this project forward with executing secure redevelopment agreements, and overseeing execution of the project. The “Bridgeport Logistics Center” plan proposes to transform the industrial are of Perth Amboy’s historic waterfront from a contaminated Brownfield site into a new state-of-the-art industrial complex.
The Bridgeport Logistics Center (190 total acres) is located north of the 440 Outerbridge Crossing connecting Staten Island and the New Jersey Turnpike. It also borders the Arthur Kill, a major navigational channel for the Port of New York and Newark, NJ. Given its strategic location along the I-95 corridor, the site is a prime candidate for redevelopment.
For 80 years, this industrial site was a smelting and refining facility owned and operated by ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company). Since closing its doors in 1979, long-term tenants and environmental hazards prohibited redevelopment of the site. CDC acquired the site in a bankruptcy sale and assumed responsibility for onsite clean-up of environmental liabilities.