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Developer considers new use for vacant Minute Maid plant
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
By CHRIS STURGISSpecial to The Times
HIGHTSTOWN -- The closing of the Minute Maid plant here in 2003 was considered a "bolt out of the blue" by residents and workers for whom the packaging operation was a mainstay of borough life for nearly 40 years.
But while the machines remain silent, optimism is building as a developer moves to buy the 37-acre Mercer Street site for conversion to housing and commercial use, in yet-unclarified plans.
"Developed into a mixed-use it's going to have a positive effect on our businesses," said Mayor Robert Patten. "I don't have the calculations but it's going to bring more people into our town and extend our Main Street all the way up Mercer Street. It's definitely going to stimulate our economy."
The vacant factory straddles the border of Hightstown and East Windsor, offering the hope of tax revenues and economic stimulation for both towns.
"They haven't made a proposal to the planning board -- yet -- but I understand they are interested in a mixed-use proposal of residential, office and commercial property," Patten said.
Minute Maid's parent company, Coca-Cola of North America, continues to own the property and pay about $400,000 in annual property taxes, Patten said, but the plant's closing in 2003 cost the borough about $235,000 in water and sewer revenue.
Patten said the plant used the borough's water supply to make Hi-C and other beverages but did not run all its wastewater through the sewage treatment plant. "There was quite a bit of waste when they manufactured the juices -- water waste, a residue that they needed to get rid of. They put it in tanker trucks that took it someplace else," he said.
Asked if the mixed-use residential development would replace that lost revenue when the new development seemed unlikely to consume as much water as an industrial use, Patten said, "I couldn't answer that. I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't know what the calculations would be." He said water usage would depend on the specifics of the proposal.
East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov said Dornoch Management of Lakewood is poised to buy the plant on Mercer Street on about 17 acres in Hightstown and another 20 acres of undeveloped acreage in East Windsor, some of which is wetlands.
"It is my understanding that . . . (the) closing could occur within 30 days," Mironov said. "The prospective purchaser appears to be experienced and has a desire to work closely with the two municipalities in identifying the plan for the site. That's definitely a positive step, and we look forward to further engaging the developer."
In a separate development, Dornoch has received approval for a 240,000 square-foot business complex consisting of five structures at Wicoff Mill Road and Cranbury Station Road, Mironov said.
"We have an experience with them," she said.
Mironov said she had no firm information about what Dornoch is planning for the site, which only has road access through Hightstown.
Chris Stoeckman, vice president of operations for Dornoch, did not respond to requests for comment from a reporter left at Dornoch's Hightstown telephone number or another number provided by the Hightstown office.
Ray Crockett, spokesman for Coca-Cola North America, said he knew nothing of the sale.
Mironov said East Windsor lost no tax ratables when the plant closed and 280 jobs were lost in 2003 because the township portion had never been developed. Therefore, any gain in tax ratables would be a net gain for East Windsor, not a replacement for something lost, she said.
Patten said the fate of another long-closed industrial site -- the former rug mill on Bank Street -- also is up in the air.
One developer has offered a proposal, but the borough council last night decided to hear a plan from a second developer, Dranoff of Philadelphia.
The initial developer, Greystone Mill of Paoli, Pa., has proposed turning the site into 98 residential units.
Dranoff has proposed 143 units.
Patten said the borough's redevelopment plan called for no more than 80 units on the site, but a subsequent feasibility study found that number too low to provide an adequate profit for a developer.
© 2006 The Times of Trenton
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Developer considers new use for vacant Minute Maid plant
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
By CHRIS STURGISSpecial to The Times
HIGHTSTOWN -- The closing of the Minute Maid plant here in 2003 was considered a "bolt out of the blue" by residents and workers for whom the packaging operation was a mainstay of borough life for nearly 40 years.
But while the machines remain silent, optimism is building as a developer moves to buy the 37-acre Mercer Street site for conversion to housing and commercial use, in yet-unclarified plans.
"Developed into a mixed-use it's going to have a positive effect on our businesses," said Mayor Robert Patten. "I don't have the calculations but it's going to bring more people into our town and extend our Main Street all the way up Mercer Street. It's definitely going to stimulate our economy."
The vacant factory straddles the border of Hightstown and East Windsor, offering the hope of tax revenues and economic stimulation for both towns.
"They haven't made a proposal to the planning board -- yet -- but I understand they are interested in a mixed-use proposal of residential, office and commercial property," Patten said.
Minute Maid's parent company, Coca-Cola of North America, continues to own the property and pay about $400,000 in annual property taxes, Patten said, but the plant's closing in 2003 cost the borough about $235,000 in water and sewer revenue.
Patten said the plant used the borough's water supply to make Hi-C and other beverages but did not run all its wastewater through the sewage treatment plant. "There was quite a bit of waste when they manufactured the juices -- water waste, a residue that they needed to get rid of. They put it in tanker trucks that took it someplace else," he said.
Asked if the mixed-use residential development would replace that lost revenue when the new development seemed unlikely to consume as much water as an industrial use, Patten said, "I couldn't answer that. I'm not an engineer so I wouldn't know what the calculations would be." He said water usage would depend on the specifics of the proposal.
East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov said Dornoch Management of Lakewood is poised to buy the plant on Mercer Street on about 17 acres in Hightstown and another 20 acres of undeveloped acreage in East Windsor, some of which is wetlands.
"It is my understanding that . . . (the) closing could occur within 30 days," Mironov said. "The prospective purchaser appears to be experienced and has a desire to work closely with the two municipalities in identifying the plan for the site. That's definitely a positive step, and we look forward to further engaging the developer."
In a separate development, Dornoch has received approval for a 240,000 square-foot business complex consisting of five structures at Wicoff Mill Road and Cranbury Station Road, Mironov said.
"We have an experience with them," she said.
Mironov said she had no firm information about what Dornoch is planning for the site, which only has road access through Hightstown.
Chris Stoeckman, vice president of operations for Dornoch, did not respond to requests for comment from a reporter left at Dornoch's Hightstown telephone number or another number provided by the Hightstown office.
Ray Crockett, spokesman for Coca-Cola North America, said he knew nothing of the sale.
Mironov said East Windsor lost no tax ratables when the plant closed and 280 jobs were lost in 2003 because the township portion had never been developed. Therefore, any gain in tax ratables would be a net gain for East Windsor, not a replacement for something lost, she said.
Patten said the fate of another long-closed industrial site -- the former rug mill on Bank Street -- also is up in the air.
One developer has offered a proposal, but the borough council last night decided to hear a plan from a second developer, Dranoff of Philadelphia.
The initial developer, Greystone Mill of Paoli, Pa., has proposed turning the site into 98 residential units.
Dranoff has proposed 143 units.
Patten said the borough's redevelopment plan called for no more than 80 units on the site, but a subsequent feasibility study found that number too low to provide an adequate profit for a developer.
© 2006 The Times of Trenton
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 2:23 PM
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