Howell Warehouse Proposal Out As Monmouth Commerce Sells Site

HOWELL, NJ — The Monmouth Commerce Center application for a huge warehouse complex on Randolph Road is officially off the table.

In what is seen as a victory for residents opposed to the warehouse development, the owners of the site announced it is now sold. The new owner is Mid-Atlantic Offshore Development, the township said.

And Monmouth Commerce Center is withdrawing the application for the five-building, 940,400-square-foot project that had already been rejected by the township once - a rejection upheld in court - in a previous larger plan.

After many hours over many meetings about the proposal, it was a short letter to Planning Board Secretary Eileen Rubano from Meryl A. G. Gonchar, the attorney for the applicant, that put an end to the warehouse proposal:

"Please accept this letter as a formal request to withdraw the . . . pending application. The applicant, Monmouth Commerce Center, LLC, no longer has a proprietary interest in the subject property after recently selling the property. Please instruct the Planning Board professionals and consultants to stop work on the matter and issue final invoices to close out the escrow account."

The developer has sold the 100-acre parcel to Mid-Atlantic Offshore Development, LLC, a company that is involved in the state's offshore wind project, the township said Friday.

The Township Council, in responding to the news, both thanked all those involved in discussions of the application, and indicated the withdrawal meets the township's goals of "prioritizing responsible and sustainable" development.

"The decision comes after the project faced significant opposition from residents and raised numerous questions from Planning Board officials," the council said in a statement Friday.

One resident in particular, Dawn VanBrunt, has been fighting the project since 2018, said Marc Parisi of Howell NJ First, which opposed the project.

"Dawn Van Brunt spent tens of thousands of her own money to fight this proposal from the beginning," he said in response to the news Friday.

Planning Board Chairman Paul Boisvert said he commended the dedication and commitment of the board members "both past and present who tirelessly sat through hours of testimony and raised serious concerns regarding the proposed development."

The original application, which sought a warehouse spanning over 1 million square feet, was ultimately denied, a denial upheld in the courts after the board faced legal action.

The applicant resubmitted revised plans with a smaller footprint in an attempt to address some of the concerns. But "hurdles remained, particularly concerning traffic issues." the township said.

The withdrawal marks a "significant development" in Howell, the township said.

The township "will continue to prioritize responsible and sustainable development, ensuring the best interests of the community are safeguarded," it said.

Howell's Master Plan last year tightened rules on allowable warehouses, but the Monmouth Commerce center project was grandfathered in for consideration by the Planning Board.

And another applicant, AAVRHW Property, LLC (Victory Road) and Stavola Realty Company as owners are seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval for a 25-dock warehouse on Victory Road.

And the township is asking state legislators to tighten state Municipal Land Use laws regarding warehouse development in the wake of a building boom in the industry.

Regarding the new owner, Mid-Atlantic Offshore Development, the Larrabee Tri-Collector Solution offshore wind transmission project was proposed by the company and Jersey Central Power & Light Co.

Additionally, the Board of Public Utilities awarded onshore grid upgrade projects to enable the capacity of the turbines to various other power companies.

"These project selections will establish the first coordinated solution for offshore wind transmission in the U.S., testifying to New Jersey’s status as a national forerunner in clean energy production," the board said last year.

The offshore wind proposal is estimated to cost $504 million. The necessary onshore grid upgrade projects are estimated to cost $568 million, for a total of $1.07 billion for the full project. The BPU estimates that ratepayers will save more than $900 million through these projects.

Parisi, of Howell NJ First, said that the Larabee substation is located adjacent to the former Monmouth Commerce Center property and could be a connection for the offshore system.

More details of the new ownership of the Randolph Road site were not explained Friday. A request for a comment from Mid-Atlantic Offshore Development was not immediately provided Friday.

A call to the attorney for Monmouth Commerce Center was not immediately returned.

The Monmouth Commerce Center warehouse on Randolph Road was proposed as a 24/7 operation that would have had nearly 200 employees, experts for the developer said at a meeting last September.

Monmouth Commerce Center LLC and developers Lawrence Katz and Felix Pflaster were seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval with variance relief.

The 940,400 square footage was a 32 percent reduction in the original proposal, the company's lawyer, Meryl Gonchar, said in September.