Largest Development In Bridgewater's History Since Mall Gets PILOT Approval

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The Township approved a 30-year PILOT (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) for a project considered the largest development in the township's history since the Bridgewater Commons mall.

The Township Council unanimously approved the PILOT — also known as municipal tax abatements — at the Sept. 4 meeting for the new Peters Brook Innovation Center.

The Center, formerly known as the Center of Excellence, is located off Route 202/206 at the former Sanofi-Aventis property.

The project includes two smaller 30,000 square feet of retail/restaurant buildings, several research development life science-type buildings, and 2 industrial flex buildings, which have several permitted uses - one of which is warehousing.

Several residents spoke out against the PILOT.

"We are discounting Bridgewater’s property to warehouse developers. That’s not what we want in Bridgewater," said resident Daniel Zelinski.

"To me if you are not charging 100 percent, it's a discount," said resident Cathy Franco.

Councilman Michael Kirsh responded to critics saying the property is not viable without the PILOT.

"The whole idea behind a PILOT is come to an agreement that is appropriate for a municipality while still being financially feasible to build," said Kirsh. "This property is very poorly underperforming. If we do nothing it will continue to underperform. If through this PILOT we are able to come to an arrangement that is both appropriate for the municipality and appropriate for the developer we will be able to get this property closer to its full value on our books."

Kirsh then asked Mayor Matthew Moench if the Council did not approve the PILOT with the property continue to underperform or become an eyesore and drain the township's resources.

"It's worse than that," said Moench, who noted that the majority of the property is to be built for life science users.

"You don't just go out and as a developer and just build a shell of an office building and then see who comes in to lease it out. You build it to spec," said Moench. "Those companies who are going to want to do that kind of investment want to know with certainty what their costs are going to be. So by doing a PILOT we provide financial certainty not just for the developer, the big bad developer, but the for the end users and those companies that we want to attract here because they know those costs."

The Township has not approved a PILOT since the construction of the Bridgewater Commons mall. While the Township doesn't typically use PILOTS as a financial incentive to manage and attract the businesses that they want, Moench noted that the property off Route 202/206 has been vacant since 2008.

"There have been various proposals. None have worked," said Moench. "This will allow us work with our development partners to attract the businesses that we want which is the high quality life sciecnces over the next number of years."

The applicant AR Bridgewater II, LLC will build the project in 3 phases.

The first phase entails the construction of the industrial flex space and one life science research and development(R&D) building.

Council President Howard Norglais noted at the meeting that "PILOTS do not become effective until a Certificate of Occupancy is issued for the completed building."

The original plan for the property, touted as the largest development in the township's history since the Bridgewater Commons mall, featured a hotel, supermarket, fitness/wellness center, restaurants with outdoor dining, and around 400 luxury apartment units and boutique shops.

The board approved that plan in December 2019, despite residents' pleas for them not to.

A two-and-a-half-year legal battle then ensued before Bridgewater and Advance Realty reached a new agreement.

To read more about the project's history, and the agreement, click here.

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.