Holmdel's Crawford Hill Acquisition Welcomed - And Watched

HOLMDEL, NJ — Area land use advocates say they are pleased with an agreement the township has reached with a developer to preserve Crawford Hill and the landmark Horn Antenna, but they will still keep an eye on how the former Nokia building is developed.

On Thursday night, the Township Committee announced its memorandum of understanding with Crawford Hill Holding to purchase the 35-acre site, on Lots 6 and 6.01. Lot 7, the location of the former Nokia research facility on Holmdel Road, is not included in the deal.

Holmdel plans to preserve the area as open space, creating a 35-acre park and eventually an education center dedicated to science - symbolized by the Horn Antenna sited there in the 1960s.

The agreement is seen as a victory for preserving history and open space in Holmdel:

In terms of open space, Crawford Hill is the highest point in Monmouth County, the former property of Bell Labs and then Nokia, and it remained undeveloped. But a Holmdel company that purchased the site from Nokia in late 2020 was planning a townhouse development there.

In terms of history, the Horn Antenna is, as one scientist described it, a "shrine to cosmology" for its role in the confirmation of the Big Bang theory - research that garnered two Bell Labs scientists a Nobel Prize.

So the agreement, reached over months of meetings and negotiations, is seen as no small feat by preservation advocates.

Citizens for Informed Land Use in Holmdel praised the action: "CILU commends the Holmdel Township Committee for its work to preserve Crawford Hill and the Horn Antenna. Throughout this yearlong campaign, CILU has emphasized the importance of preserving Holmdel's scientific legacy and our fragile watershed.

"This recent action by the Holmdel Township Committee highlights the progress that can be achieved when local governments are willing to listen to and work with residents," the group said in a statement.

And it added that the "CILU board will continue to follow the redevelopment process of lot 7, which is not included in the acquisition."

And Friends of Holmdel Open Space (FOHOS) also weighed in on the action:

The group said it is "pleased to see that the Holmdel Township Committee has found a way to preserve Crawford Hill and its historic Horn Antenna. As an organization that has long worked to preserve, improve, and maintain open space in Holmdel, we will be happy to help in any way we can as our township creates this new park," a statement from the organization said.

A spokesperson for Preserve Holmdel said it "concurs with the CILU statement and will continue to work closely with CILU and FOHOS to monitor the development of Lot 7."

The three groups were the core of a coalition of preservation groups that organized to fight development of the area, joined by many other community members, scientists and others. Globally, thousands signed a petition to preserve the Horn and the entire Crawford Hill area.

The one person who seems to have coined the phrase "shrine to cosmology" when speaking of the Horn Antenna, Fred Carl of Ocean Grove, was thrilled that the site will be preserved.

Carl is a founder and trustee of the InfoAge Science & History Museums in Wall and a Simons Observatory project controls specialist at Princeton Physics, Princeton University.

"This is an awesome outcome. I have great admiration for all the parties involved," he said on Friday.

Carl has offered the town his expertise to help create an education center for astronomy and cosmology at the Horn antenna location, he has said.

"A visitor center has amazing potential to inspire kids to learn science," he said Friday.

Township officials celebrated the agreement, too.

“This breakthrough will allow future generations to observe the Horn Antenna, a National Historic Landmark located within Holmdel, as well as the impressive views that can be observed from the highest point in Monmouth County, all as part of a sprawling 35-acre public park,” said Mayor D.J. Luccarelli in a statement Thursday.

The agreement was just announced, and, as its provisions come up for more explanation and action by the committee, there is bound to be more discussion.

On Friday, former Township Committeeman Terence Wall expressed concern to the committee about the cost of the site.

Under the terms of the agreement, the township will acquire the Crawford Hill property, including the Horn Antenna, for a net sale price of $4.75 million.

The transaction will involve a purchase price of $5.5 million, with the seller donating $750,000 back to the township for improvements to Crawford Hill, according to a news release by the township. These monies are expected to be used to preserve the Horn Antenna, repave access roads, and complete potential improvements such as a visitor center, the township said.

The acquisition will be funded through the Township’s Open Space Trust Fund without any adverse impact to taxpayers, the township said in the statement.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding or MOU, the township and the developer, company principal Rakesh Antala, agreed the sale price was "just compensation."

But Wall, in a memo that he passed on to the Township Committee members, questioned among other things, the price as being "way over the stated appraisal."

But the township said in its statement that the "negotiated settlement will allow the township to obtain title to Crawford Hill quickly, while preventing against any litigation exposure to the township over the value of the property." An appraisal by the township of lots 6 and 6.01 at the property at 791 Holmdel Road came in at $1.97 million.

The memorandum also has a provision for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT). "If CHH’s redevelopment meets the applicable statutory criteria, the township agrees to enter into a financial agreement with CHH approving a payment in lieu of taxes (“PILOT”) relative to the redevelopment of Lot 7," the document states.

Wall questioned the PILOT in his memo to the committee, saying that the PILOT funds could not be applied to the school district budget.

A quote from a township official was updated Saturday from an earlier version of this story.