Photo by Colleen Reynolds Wood-Ridge’s Wesmont Station development is unlikely to see any construction until the economy improves.

By Colleen Reynolds / Reporter

WOOD-RIDGE (Sept. 24, 2009) — Things are getting taller at the future site of Wesmont Station in the northern corner of Wood-Ridge along Passaic Street, but they’re not the expected residences, shops, community center, middle school, train station or even Rosie the Riveter statue, which all have yet to be built; they’re the green weeds that have been sprouting up since the construction project screeched to a halt months ago while awaiting more favorable market conditions.

“In a roaring economy, you might see more happening on the ground at this stage of the process,” stated Ralph Zucker, president of Somerset Development, the project’s developer. “In a challenging economy like the one we are currently in, we are instead progressing in other areas of the project, including finalizing design details.”

Zucker anticipates vertical construction at the site, which neighbors Lodi and Hasbrouck Heights, to begin this spring.

Wesmont Station is designed to be a 70-acre pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented section of the borough that will enhance walkability while reducing dependence on vehicular transportation.

The project’s original plans remain mostly intact.

The development is expected to include roughly 800 residences near a new train station to be added to NJ Transit’s Bergen County line. The site will also feature an events plaza, open space and walking and biking paths.

The project will cost approximately $400 million, according to Zucker, and is expected to generate jobs and new property tax revenue.

Recently, Wood-Ridge officials reviewed the plans of more than 400 rental units and roughly 30,000 square feet of retail space by AvalonBay Communities, Inc., the new contract purchaser of the residential rental units and retail space at Wesmont. AvalonBay is expected to complete its investment with Somerset as soon as the real-estate market improves, according to Borough Administrator Chris Eilert.

Meanwhile, NJ Transit and Somerset Development are in the process of finalizing the bidding process for the design of the train station, which should be one of the first buildings to materialize.

“Right now, there are no environmental issues, no regulatory issues; it’s just market driven,” Mayor Paul Sarlo said of the ceased construction.

Formerly, the site was occupied mostly by the World War II-era Curtiss-Wright factory, which churned out airplane engines during the war effort. A Grand Union supermarket and strip mall used to front Passaic Street, but were under separate ownership from Curtiss-Wright. A longtime brownfield site — defined by the state Department of Environmental Protection as “any former or current commercial or industrial site that is currently vacant or under-utilized and on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been, a discharge of contaminant” — the land has since been cleaned up in compliance with DEP standards.

The horizontal site work was completed last year by ROC Enterprises, Inc., whose sign now adorns the fence at the site with an invalid phone number and e-mail address.

Locals have expressed growing impatience with the lack of progress on the property. One Wood-Ridge man, who requested anonymity, broached the topic at a recent board of education meeting, claiming that the borough should seize the property via eminent domain.

Joseph LaRocca, who lives directly across from the site in Lodi, said he was unaware of what was going to be constructed there, but called the current state of the lot “a complete eyesore. … Who wants to walk out and see that every morning?”

Despite appearances on the ground, Somerset claims the project has not been abandoned.

“Somerset is wholly committed to the successful completion of Wesmont Station and continues to move forward with the project despite the challenging economy,” wrote Zucker.

All taxes on the property, which includes three lots, have been paid without any delinquencies, according to Jacqueline Sharkey, the Wood-Ridge tax collector. Somerset has also funded the recent improvements to Donna Ricker Field to compensate, in part, for the delay of the new recreation complex at the development.

Another part of the project — providing capital to update the high school’s science labs — is static. “We cannot wait any longer on Wesmont,” said Superintendent of Schools Elaine Giugliano. Consequently, the board of education is seeking a referendum that would convert the antiquated labs to regular classrooms and build a new science wing at the high school.

The proposed middle school at Wesmont Station had originally been hailed as a solution for the school district’s notorious overcrowding. Yet children keep pouring into the district as construction sits in suspension.

“At this point we have to proceed accordingly — due to our overcrowding — to house our students, and Wesmont is not a factor,” said Giugliano.

Recognizing that the site was no longer an asset to the borough as a blighted industrial property, the Wood-Ridge governing body began looking earlier this decade to transform the site into something more positive. Wesmont Station is now a pilot program in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Neighborhood Initiative Development program, and former Councilman Robert Riccardella recently named the plans for Wesmont Station one of the achievements he was most proud of during his four terms on the council.

Wood-Ridge Council President Ezio Altamura said that when the council started entertaining the idea of Wesmont in 2001, few could have imagined the abysmal state the economy would be in eight years later. “People are looking for jobs,” he said about the current times, “let alone homes in a new development.”

When might this progressive-minded village of great potential be completed?

“This is a highly complex, multifaceted project,” Zucker stated. “As such, it is too early to tell.”

For now, the weeds on the plot will continue to inch higher — not exactly the so-called “green shoots” signaling the economic recovery that Wesmont Station and others look forward to with eager eyes. When those shoots are sighted, then construction can begin.