March 18, 2015

FMERA Issues Several Requests for Offers to Purchase to Further Redevelopment of Fort Monmouth

OCEANPORT, NJ – The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) issued two Requests for Offers to Purchase (RFOTPs) on Friday (March 13) for properties in the Oceanport section of the Fort. FMERA recently issued an additional six RFOTPs, paving the way for extensive redevelopment of the former military base. The properties span Oceanport, Tinton Falls and Eatontown, and total nearly 100 acres of land. FMERA uses the RFOTP process to competitively sell Fort Monmouth property.

“These RFOTPs represent another significant step in our mission to revitalize Fort Monmouth and bring jobs back to Monmouth County,” FMERA Executive Director Bruce Steadman said.

FMERA Director of Real Estate Development Dave Nuse added, “The RFOTPs recently issued seek to attract the types of redevelopment essential to revitalizing the towns affected by the closing of Fort Monmouth – office and research space, a place of worship, residential units, and destination retail – with the goal of creating thriving live-work-play communities.”

FMERA issued an RFOTP on Friday for the former Nurses’ Quarters located next to the former Patterson Army Health Clinic in the Oceanport section of the Fort. AcuteCare Management Services, LLC is currently in the process of transforming the former Patterson Army Health Clinic into a state-of-the-art healthcare facility. Totaling approximately 18,655 square feet, the former Nurses’ Quarters were built in 1962 and include 24 residential units. The Fort’s Reuse and Redevelopment Plan (Reuse Plan) envisions the buildings being used for residential purposes. The parcel on which the former Nurses’ Quarters stand is a Phase 2 property. FMERA is working aggressively to complete negotiations on the Phase 2 Economic Development Conveyance agreement with the Army and receive a deed to the property. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on May 11.

FMERA also made an approximately 4.2 acre parcel of land containing the 16,420 square-foot former Community Center (known as the Dance Hall) in Oceanport (aka Building 552) available through an RFOTP issued on Friday. The Property includes Van Kirk Park Memorial in an approximately two-acre park to the south of Building 552 and is included in the Fort’s Green Tech Campus development district, which is intended to accommodate office/research and institutional uses within a campus-like setting. Building 552 was planned for demolition and the property was envisioned as open space in the Reuse Plan. However, given the unique design features within the circa-1941 Community Center, the Property has potential for reuse as a community space, serving small entertainment and recreation uses as it once did when the Fort was in operation. Given its central location, surrounded by a future high-tech research park, historic Officer Housing, the Chapel and the Fitness Center, the Property could cater to the various uses in active development. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on June 10.

Additionally, FMERA recently issued RFOTPs for the following properties:

Building 2525, an 86,400-square-foot, two-story former administration building, is located in the Fort’s Charles Wood Area in Tinton Falls. Building 2525’s location near Commvault’s new world headquarters makes it an attractive spot for office and/or research and development use, its intended use in the Reuse Plan. While FMERA will entertain offers for other uses for the property, plans that call for residential development will not be considered. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on March 30.

Parcel F-3, a 3.5 acre parcel located in the Charles Wood Area, borders Hope Road to the east and Corregidor Road to the north. Parcel F-3 is adjacent to the County’s Fort Monmouth Recreation Center and pool and includes Building 2567, a former convenience store, and two islands housing fuel dispensing pumps. The Reuse Plan envisions the reuse of the property as a gas station, although FMERA will accept proposals for other commercial uses. Permitted uses under the Land Use Rules include office/research; institutional; civic; and open space/recreational use. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on April 7.

The Russel Hall parcel in Oceanport includes 4.6 acres located within the Fort Monmouth National Register Historic District and features the 42,300-square-foot former Garrison Headquarters building and the accompanying parking area and green space. The RFOTP allows respondents to submit proposals to redevelop the property into office, medical or research use. The purchase agreement between FMERA and the selected potential purchaser will be subject to FMERA entering into the Phase 2 Economic Development Conveyance agreement with the Army. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on April 13.

The Main Post Chapel in the Oceanport Reuse Area of the Fort encompasses five acres of land and a 16,372-square-foot structure, consisting of a 600-seat chapel, an administrative wing, a classroom wing and a kitchen. Per the Reuse Plan, the Chapel is intended to be reused as a house of worship. The property is in the Oceanport Horseneck Center and the Historic District, although the structure is not considered historic. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on April 20.

RFOTPs issued include Fort Monmouth’s Child Development Center (CDC), a nearly 20,000-square-foot facility located near Corregidor Road in Tinton Falls, on a 7.4 acre parcel adjacent to Hope Road. The facility includes a playground area. While the Reuse Plan envisions the land to be used as a child development center, the RFOTP also allows proposals for other commercial uses, such as for technological purposes or office space. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on April 27.

In issuing an RFOTP for the approximately 77-acre Parcel B in Eatontown, FMERA seeks proposals that meet the Reuse Plan’s objective of creating a lifestyle town center, with the goal of establishing an exciting and attractive gateway to the Fort from Route 35. The Reuse Plan calls for the existing buildings that make up Parcel B to be demolished and replaced with a “vibrant pedestrian environment,” with connectivity and interaction between the parcel’s retail and residential components. At its January meeting, the FMERA Board approved expanding the previously 55-acre Parcel B by approximately 22 acres, including a portion of land that FMERA is set to acquire through the Phase 2 Economic Development Conveyance Agreement. The expanded acreage allows for an additional 100,000 square feet of retail and commercial uses to make the site more attractive to large developers, bringing the total non-residential build-out to 250,000 square feet, along with 302 housing units. The Board also authorized the option to add an additional 12 acres to the Parcel, which would include Mallette Hall, Pruden Hall, and the adjacent outdoor amphitheater. Responses to the RFOTP are due by noon on May 21.

FMERA’s Sales Rules call for the sale of Fort Monmouth property through a fair and open public process. Proposals received in response to RFOTPs are evaluated and ranked based on criteria including price, projected job creation, total investment, the proposer’s experience and financial resources, and the project’s anticipated impact on the local municipality.

RFOTPs for properties at Fort Monmouth can be found at: www.fortmonmouthredevelopment.com.