Take a developed property the size of New York City’s Central Park with 5 million sq ft of building area, program in new construction or renovation over 20 years and across three dozen parcels for 1,600 housing units, 300,000 sq ft of civic or government space, 500,000 sq ft for retail and 2 million sq ft of offices, and you have a pretty ambitious undertaking. The $2-billion effort to redevelop Fort Monmouth, a decommissioned former U.S. Army base in the thick of New Jersey’s suburban sprawl, is all kinds of ambitious.
The 1,126-acre site, split into two large sections and spread across three municipalities, is a buzz saw of construction activity, with various projects completed, another dozen in the works and several more set for new development. About 70% of structures on the former base are set for demolition, and nearly 80% of the property is sold, under contract, in negotiations or set for RFP bidding.