Riverton Development In Sayreville Gets $400 Million In Tax Breaks

SAYREVILLE, NJ — This December, the long-discussed Riverton development in Sayreville took a big step forward in actually getting built:

On Dec. 14, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) approved the project for up to $400 million in tax breaks. The developer of Riverton is Cincinnati-based North American Properties, working with PGIM Real Estate, the global investment arm of Prudential bank.

The two are working under a limited partnership called Sayreville Seaport Associates Urban Renewal, L.P. to build Riverton.

Some locals may laugh to think of Sayreville as having a "seaport," but Riverton is proposed to be built where the Raritan River widens and empties into Raritan Bay, with the Atlantic Ocean just beyond. It will be right off the Sayreville exit off the Driscoll Bridge.

Riverton will take up all 418 acres of the former National Lead site. It is a planned mixed-use community that includes luxury waterfront apartments, office space, retail shops and restaurants and a marina. Bass Pro Shops is already confirmed as an anchor tenant, the developer previously announced in this 2019 article about the complex.

Riverton will have:

• 1.2 million square feet of residential housing, likely apartments. Many will have waterfront views of the Raritan River.
• A public waterfront promenade, to which Sayreville residents and the general public will have access
• Parks and nature trails, also open to the public
• An open-air amphitheater
• A 200-slip boat marina
• Waterfront dining and shops
• Spaces for offices and tech, plus space for the town of Sayreville to move its town offices into.
• Possibly a hotel

When the project was first announced in 2017, North American Properties managing partner Mark Toro said he imagines Riverton as "New Jersey’s next great hometown."

The developer said it "will primarily be marketed to empty nesters and single Millennials, however some families may also be part of the resident mix."

However, for years now the developers have also said the entire project was contingent on "critical" financing from the state of New Jersey. That's why it is big news that this December, Riverton was approved for tax breaks of up to 50 percent of projects costs, up to $400 million total. It was given the tax breaks under the state's Aspire Program, which is meant to increase affordable housing in New Jersey.

“After decades of this land sitting vacant and unsafe, this strategically-located project will serve as an economic engine for the area," said NJ Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge).

Gov. Murphy wants Riverton to be built

“With today’s approval, Sayreville is poised to undergo a tremendous renaissance, which will bring new housing, jobs, retail and recreation that will benefit the entire community,” said Gov. Phil Murphy on Dec. 14.

Riverton will be the largest brownfield remediation project in New Jersey history, possibly even on the entire East Coast, some say. The 418 acres on which it is proposed to be built is all former industrial land and marsh along the river.

Part of the reason why Riverton was given the millions in tax breaks is because a big chunk (20 percent) of the new housing there will be affordable. Riverton will have an estimated 1,300 new residential units, 20 percent of which will be set aside as affordable. All new-construction applicants for Aspire tax breaks must include at least 20 percent affordable housing.

NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan called Riverton a "long-anticipated project" and one that will "transform a vast tract of land that had been rendered unusable many years ago."

This will "reinvigorate Sayreville and create jobs for the local community," he said.

North American Properties already said they seek to capitalize off Sayreville's strategic location, just 20 miles south of New York City, close to Rutgers-New Brunswick and with easy access to the Jersey Shore, NJ Turnpike, Rts. 1,9 and 35 and the Garden State Parkway.

"About 600,000 vehicles traverse the Driscoll Bridge at Exit 125 of the Garden State Parkway each day, and considerably more in summer months," said North American Properties. "The newly opened exit rivals virtually any site in the United States for unimpeded access to America’s most coveted marketplace — the New York metropolitan area."

“This mixed-use development project will be exactly the sort of economic boost the Sayreville Seaport area needs, and will bring economic renewal and vitality to the entire riverfront,” said state Senator Joseph Vitale (D-Woodbridge).

Heads Up, Sayreville: Massive Luxury Apartment Complex 'Riverton' May Be Coming (December 2019)

Project website: https://riverton.com/

How to apply for Aspire tax breaks: https://www.njeda.gov/aspire/

North American Properties corporate website