Developer cleans up NJ toxic waste site for upscale lifestyle destination
O’Neill Properties Group (OPG) announced that it has completed cleanup of The Pointe, a former toxic waste site in Sayreville, NJ, with intention to begin retail building this year.
The Pointe is the largest mixed-use brownfield redevelopment ever undertaken in the Northeast, costing $2.2 billion dollars.
The 440 acre site was purchased in 2008 by OPG, including a 40 acre lagoon filled with toxic waste. The lagoon specifically contained titanium dioxide waste byproducts from a former lead manufacturing facility. The lagoon was an infamous landmark in the region with its highly acidic, yolk-like substance and changing colors of toxicity.
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World will be the anchor, with a 200,000 square foot footprint. OPG intends to build vertically from Bass Pro starting this spring.
“After years of behind-the-scenes work and what was truly a remediation engineering marvel, 2016 is going to see a flurry of leasing and construction activity to really kick off this monumental project,” said Brian O’Neill Jr., COO of OPG and Development Manager for The Pointe.
O’Neill continued, “The Pointe at Sayreville will redefine shopping, entertainment, and dining, transforming the local economy by creating nearly 10,000 new jobs and serving as an exciting new destination for the 12 million people in the New Jersey/New York marketplace.”
Dan Busch, PE, PP, CME, Principal at Maser Consulting explained the measures taken to make sure the property is safe. “Our geotechnical team worked tirelessly in challenging conditions and timeframes to verify the performance of the mixing, performing more than 4,500 tests to confirm the ISS met the design criteria and create a safe, hazard-free site for this seminal Bass Pro Shop store.”
The Pointe sits at one of the busiest intersections in the country, the crossroads of NJ’s Garden State Parkway, Route 9, and Route 35. Over 400,000 cars pass it every day, and traffic spikes to more than 1 million cars per day with summer Jersey Shore traffic.
Once completed, The Pointe will offer upscale luxury townhomes, office space, hotel rooms, a marina, a fitness center for the community, emergency services, a performing arts center and a rooftop solar farm.
