Town Sells Old Police Station Site for $1.75 Million

Tuesday evening, Mayor Victor DeLuca announced the long-awaited sale of the former police station property at 125 Dunnell Road.

The property was sold to J.G. Petrucci Co. of Asbury, NJ for $1.75 million dollars. Tuesday night, the Township Committee approved the "redevelopment and property disposition agreement" with Petrucci. The agreement requires that Petrucci develop the site as 50 units of multi-family housing within the strictures of the for the site approved by the Planning Board and adopted by the town in 2009.

The deal with Petrucci for redevelopment and purchase of the property includes a $140,000 credit from the town for affordable housing and up to $500,000 for asbestos removal and demolition.

The next formal step in the process: Petrucci expects to have its site plan before the Planning Board for approval in November.

The town has long sought to sell the property after the relocation of the police department to the new police building on Springfield Avenue in 2008. The redevelopment plan process was a contentious one, with ." The group felt that proposed redevelopment parameters would allow for a building out of scale with the neighborhood abutting Memorial Park.

Previously, the town s for the sale and redevelopment of the property with Mark Built Homes of Union, extending the exclusive negotiating period twice before ending discussions. Disputes over seemed to plague discussions about the disposition of the site.

The town announced a new round of for the property this past spring, .

Petrucci will present preliminary plans to the community in an informal meeting on Thursday night, October 6, at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. Petrucci already Village Alliance special improvement district on Sept. 14.

Petrucci proposes to build a 50-unit apartment building that will include a mix of 38 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom units. The plan is for 46 market rate units and four affordable housing units. The proposed building is four stories high, with ground floor parking and three residential stories above.  

There will be 60 on-site parking spaces — meeting the 1.2 per housing unit requirement in the . The building will aim to attain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The units will all be rental; however, the units all have individual utility hookups to make for easy conversion to condominium units should the condo market improve.

No tax abatement will be granted for the development. As a rental property, the building will pay an assessment to the Maplewood Village Alliance Special Improvement District.