 SRP Publications Brownfields Reports 2001
Perth
Amboy FOCUS 2000 Redevelopment Plan Includes Brownfield Component
to Revive Historic Waterfront, Improve Local Economy
Residential
properties in Perth Amboy’s Harbortown Crossing development
represent the first new housing built in eight years for the
city. The project will bring more than 1,500 homes during the
next few years. |  |
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The
Riverview Center and fast ferry service redevelopment area is
slated to provide a commuter ferry slip, big box retail, office
space, light industrial facilities and restaurants. As an added
bonus, the project will improve the appearance of the gateway
to the city, a long awaited upgrade. |  |
Perth Amboy’s FOCUS 2000 redevelopment plan aims
to transform hundreds of acres of abandoned, underused and contaminated
land in the city. Creating new businesses, employment opportunities,
new housing and recreational assets, which increase the city’s tax
base, make neighborhoods safer and provide economic stability. The DuPont/Cable Works is one FOCUS 2000 site where
cleanup is underway for new commercial and residential housing.
Perth Amboy has received $722,000 from the state’s Hazardous Discharge
Site Remediation Fund for remedial work on the 6.3-acre parcels
since 1996. The Landings at Harborside will incorporate the
Dupont/Cable Works property as part of its $600 million mixed-use
redevelopment project that includes 2,000 residential units—town
houses and mid-rise condominiums. Also, reuse plans include 150,000
square feet of retail space, a community cultural arts center, a
public waterfront promenade, new parks and open space on an additional
49-acre tract that is predominantly brownfields. Nearby, Middlesex County vocational and technical
high school, and a satellite campus of Middlesex County College
is being constructed on re-claimed brownfields. The project is scheduled
for completion in September 2002. Harbortown Crossing is a privately-developed housing
community part of the FOCUS 2000 effort that marks the first new
housing development in eight years for the city. Approximately half
of the 1,600 residential units are complete with remaining phases
to be constructed in the next five years.
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Recent
Perth Amboy waterfront redevelopment projects include the
Harborside Promenade along the Arthur Kill and Raritan Bay
shown here at night.
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Also, the city is looking forward to a commuter
ferry slip, new restaurants,additional office space, retail and
light industrial facilities along its waterfront areas Improving
the appearance of the gateway to the city will help restore pride
to this historic area of the state. Perth Amboy also became the third municipality
in New Jersey to enter NJDEP’s Local Environmental Performance Partnership
Agreement (PPA) program. The PPA is a five-year agreement between NJDEP
and the local government of Perth Amboy that enables the Department
to concentrate its expertise and resources on confronting the many
environmental issues and concerns of the city. The PPA coincides with Perth Amboy’s major redevelopment
and revitalization effort led by Mayor Joseph Vas. The agreement
will help ensure that redevelopment work in Perth Amboy will take
place without causing harm to the environment, and keep the air
and water clean for present and future residents. A clean environment
is a major component to the Mayor’s vision of making the city an
attractive place to live, work, and learn. The first step in the
agreement is the joint formation of an action plan that addresses
the environmental problems of the city and the goals and objectives
it hopes to reach. Then, a project schedule is developed to help
NJDEP and the city reach their goals in a timely and efficient manner.
Some of the initial environmental focus areas of the PPA are brownfield
redevelopment, containment of urban sprawl, waterfront development,
and water quality.
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Commissioner
Bob Shinn and Perth Amboy Joseph Vas shake hands after signing
an environmental performance partnership agreement that will
facilitate brownfield redevelopment projects as Assemblyman
Minority Leader Joseph Doria looks on.
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Although this is the third PPA approved by NJDEP,
it is the first to include a reduction of greenhouse gases as an
objective of the agreement. The plan identifies strategies to reduce
emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels within the city of
Perth Amboy. The first two PPA’s NJDEP forged were with the
City of Bayonne and Hudson County.
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