Sale Of Old Firehouse Approved In Summit: See Winning Bid

SUMMIT, NJ — A bid was awarded for the sale of the old Summit firehouse site at 396 Broad St.

The property was sold, "as is," for $5.45 million after Common Council unanimously voted to approve Resolution 12308 on Tuesday night. This sale was awarded to K&K Developers, a division of Garden Homes.

A commission for handling the sale of $268,000 will be paid to a real estate firm for handling the auction. The City will realize $5.182 million from the sale.

Two other parties submitted higher bids, but they did not meet other qualifications, including accepting the property "as-is."

The old firehouse site is within the Morris Broad Crossroads Overlay Zone, which also includes the Chestnut parking area, an office building, and a privately-owned parking lot.

"I would have felt, personally, kind of like a failure if we hadn't done this before today's meeting," Council President Mike McTernan added. "This was one of my goals when I joined Council to get this done.

"It's good for the City, it's good for the taxpayer."

Multiple members of the public raised questions on Tuesday night over how affordable housing will be handled at the new building.

"The one thing I think people may miss here is that we want to keep Summit affordable," Councilmember Jamel Boyer said. "If we were to put 100 percent affordable housing on the lot...we would have to use money from our affordable house trust fund."

The number of affordable housing units at the new building is set to fluctuate based on a sliding scale of how many total units the developer chooses to include.

City Leaders Advance Zoning Reform For Site Of Old Firehouse In Summit

Boyer and other councilmembers also pointed to the need to pay down the City's debt that has been building over the last few years.

"That's a commitment. One that the taxpayers here in Summit can't afford," Boyer added.

The City lost 300 parking spaces and $400,000 a year in revenue, according to Council, during zoning for this property.

"Summit should not be in the development business. We're out of the development business," Boyer added.

On Nov. 17, Jones Lang La Salle, Inc. was authorized to oversee the sale of the land in an auction format. At the time, the City said they received an appraisal of $4.6 million for the old firehouse site.

According to City leaders, they will use the funds from the sale to service debt that includes $16 million for the new firehouse that was constructed. Proceeds from the sale will also go toward deferred maintenance and other operations of municipal property.

"This has been a long time coming," said McTernan. "If my hair could go any greyer, it would."

RELATED COVERAGE:

1. Sale Of Old Summit Firehouse Land To Go To Auction
2. City Leaders Approve Plans For Site Of Old Firehouse In Summit