BLOOMINGDALE
3-minute read
NorthJersey.com
BLOOMINGDALE — Borough officials have updated the redevelopment plan for a portion of the Meer Tract on Federal Hill and advanced a proposed $6.7 million land sale tied to the 41-acre site off Union Avenue.
The local approvals may finally set in motion a long-delayed effort to transform the site west of the Bloomingdale Quarry into a mixed-use district with the potential for a 100-room hotel and possibly a brewery and a fitness club, local records show.
Approved by the Borough Council on June 17, the revised redevelopment plan permits up to 500 housing units and options for retail, professional offices and light industrial buildings, local records show.
At least 72 of the units will remain affordable under the terms of the borough’s court-approved affordable housing settlement linked to a 2008 plan for 360 units. That project stalled due to high costs tied to the terrain and infrastructure needs, with the site posing challenges for development because of its steep slopes and dense rock formations, local records show.
The mostly wooded site lies west of a quarry bordering Interstate 287 that once mined pink granite but now produces crushed stone. Tilcon has owned the quarry since 2004.
The redevelopment plan requires mixed-use buildings along Union Avenue and mandates that at least 80% of residential parking be enclosed in garages, according to borough records. Industrial uses are capped at 320,000 square feet, with loading docks screened and set back at least 450 feet from the road. Flat roofs may include green space or solar panels and rooftop equipment must be concealed. A helipad is also permitted under the plan.
Of the 72 affordable housing units, five will be one-bedrooms, 36 will be two-bedrooms and 31 will be three-bedrooms, records show.
The current project began with a 2015 agreement linked to Tilcon’s effort to expand quarrying on Federal Hill. That year, company representatives said Tilcon would donate part of the Meer Tract to help the borough meet its court-mandated affordable housing requirement. In return, the company would gain approvals to extend operations east toward Union Avenue.
The agreement was tied to a special zoning overlay, known as AH-1, that allows quarrying by neighboring landowners if it helps advance the affordable housing project, borough records show. To qualify, owners must either donate land or complete major site preparation, such as grading and excavation, with a commitment to building the required units.
A lawsuit challenged the borough’s zoning changes and cited a conservation easement to block development. But in 2017, a Superior Court ruling gave Finbar Equity Investments, a Tilcon affiliate, permission to subdivide and donate about 34 acres of the Meer Tract to the borough for affordable housing. Roughly 7.5 acres were added in 2022, local records show.
Bloomingdale took title to the 34 acres in 2021, and in exchange for a 10-year easement along a haul road, Tilcon paid $2.4 million and agreed to provide 100,000 tons of clean fill to support site preparation. Borough Attorney Fred Semrau at the time described the arrangement as “highly unprecedented,” citing the land transfer, payment and site work as benefits secured without taxpayer cost.
In 2017, Bloomingdale officials projected the land sale to be worth $9 million to $12 million, depending on market interest and site conditions. The current proposal sets the price at $6.7 million for 41.35 acres, with an additional $330,000 due if a hotel is built, local records show. The buyer, M&T Realty Partners, is the borough’s designated redeveloper for the site. The ordinance authorizing the sale is scheduled for a final vote during a special town council meeting on June 24.
An earlier agreement in 2021 called for the sale of 27.65 acres for $4.7 million, but that deal never closed. The borough later carved out 2.15 acres for its public works depot and restructured the remaining tract as a single lot for sale, borough records show. Because the property lies within a designated redevelopment zone, the transaction was exempt from public bidding. About 146 acres of the original Meer Tract remain in a separate lot.
Environmental groups have raised concerns over the development of dense housing on the tract and called for Highlands Preservation restrictions to protect the local ecosystem. Historians have also noted the site’s connection to the 1781 Pompton Mutiny by Continental Army troops. Municipal officials have nonetheless argued that the development could bring much-needed revenue and housing to the borough.