National developer North American Properties will announce Monday what is believed to be the largest mixed-used project in state history, ROI-NJ has learned.
The project, Riverton, will be a $2.5 billion, 418-acre development on the Raritan River in Sayreville at the former site of National Lead paint company.
The project will create a downtown village setting that mixes retail, restaurants, office space, hotels, parks and a marina. It will be created in a joint venture with New Jersey-based PGIM Real Estate.
It is the latest effort for North American Partners, which has developed 22 million square feet of commercial space and 19,000 residential units in 15 states and 67 cities.
Mark Toro, the managing partner of North American Properties, said the project is perfect for the company.
“We create great, walkable places that connect people to each other; cities to their souls; partners to opportunities; and individuals to experiences that move them,” he said. “We are bringing together a world-leading visionary team to create New Jersey’s next great hometown.”
Toro, a New Jersey native and a 1981 graduate of Rutgers University, said the project will not only combine residential, retail, entertainment, marina, office and hotel, it will do so in a carefully curated street level experience, highly-programmed gathering spaces and resort-inspired hospitality.
Toro said passive recreation and open space will complement the built environment, along with an array of public and civic uses focused on more than a mile of riverfront located within 20 miles of Lower Manhattan.
North American Properties said about 600,000 vehicles traverse the Driscoll Bridge, at Exit 125 of the Garden State Parkway, each day, and considerably more in the summer months.
Toro said this project will serve as a national example of next-generation, mixed-use development, placing “heart share over market share” in creating New Jersey’s next hometown.
In the development of plans for the community, Toro said the NAP team visited many of the region’s legendary hometowns, including Montclair, Summit, Spring Lake, Princeton, Westfield, Red Bank, Asbury Park and Hoboken, seeking to identify the essence of each.
Key public approvals for this site were initially obtained in 2014, however, NAP has thoroughly updated the redevelopment plan. As such, they are in the process of securing the necessary state and local approvals required to implement the new Riverton project.
The project has received strong support from state leaders, as well as the leadership of Middlesex County and the Borough of Sayreville. A critical component of the project financing will be the continuing support from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority through the Economic Redevelopment & Growth Program, which the EDA approved in 2014 and will be asked to reaffirm for the updated vision.
Sayreville Mayor Kennedy O’Brien, who has been advocating for such a major redevelopment project since 2000, obviously is thrilled by the announcement, which he called the Main Street of the 21st century.
“The effect on our community will be nothing short of stunning,” Kennedy said. “We look forward to working closely with North American Properties to create the type of innovative project that is tremendously beneficial for the people of our community, and creating the type of regional destination of which we can be enormously proud.
North American Properties was founded in Cincinnati in 1954, with offices in Atlanta, Dallas and Fort Myers, Florida, the company said.
PGIM Real Estate, acting on behalf of institutional investors, is the real estate management business of PGIM, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial Inc.
In 2014, state officials pledged $223 million to the Luxury Point at Sayreville project, a $1.2 billion massive retail and lifestyle complex.
The project, which called for 8 million square feet of commercial and residential space, was to be developed by O’Neill Properties. However, it never got past the planning stages.
