Sayreville: Massive Luxury Apt. Complex 'Riverton' May Be Coming

SAYREVILLE, NJ — A massive new development project is being proposed for the Sayreville area, and — should it be approved and built — it will dramatically re-shape the landscape along the Raritan River at the foot of the Driscroll Bridge.

The development is called Riverton and it will be located immediately to the right once drivers get off the Driscoll Bridge coming south on the Garden State Parkway, at the Chevalier Avenue exit.

This the site of the former National Lead site, MyCentralJersey reports.

The developer that wants to build Riverton is North American Properties. They seek to turn the 400-acre National Lead Site into a mixed-used residential/retail/entertainment hub, featuring "more than 2,000 luxury waterfront residences," a hotel, two miles of waterfront walkway plus a movie theater and stores, according to the Riverton website. Bass Pro Shops, the fishing and outdoor gear store, would be the anchor tenant.

The property is currently owned by the Sayreville Economic & Redevelopment Agency; it has been designated a redevelopment zone, MyCentralJersey reports.

According to that report, the first hearing on the Riverton project will be next Tuesday, Dec. 10 before the Sayreville Planning Board. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public. At that meeting, the Sayreville Planning Board will be asked to give their approval to divide the property into seven lots.

According to the developer's website, it's not just rental apartments the developer would build there. At Riverton, North American Properties also seeks to build:

• A 200-slip marina
• A hotel with 600 rooms
• Parks and nature trails, as well as walking trails and a bike path along the Raritan riverfront
• Two miles of waterfront development that will feature shops and restaurants. On the site's website, the developer promises "dining with spectacular views with local and regional chef-driven concepts."
• A food hall
• 750,000 square feet of high-tech workspace "with unmatched connectivity and amenities."

If built, this project promises to dramatically re-define Sayreville and the Raritan riverfront in this part of Central Jersey, long regarded as uninhabitable industrial brownfields. This site is one of the largest brownfield redevelopment projects in the United States, and remediation is currently being done there under the direction of the state NJ Department of Environmental Protection, according to the developer.

Millions of people travel through this area daily, either as commuters going in and out of job hubs in Manhattan and North Jersey, or in the form of Shore traffic headed down the Parkway. According to the developer, 372,500 cars pass through this area every day.

The complex would be located less than an hour's drive from Manhattan. Not only are Rt. 9, Rt. 35, the Parkway and the Turnpike close to there, but Riverton is also not far from several New Jersey Transit train stops, such as Avenel, New Brunswick, Matawan and South Amboy.

In total, Riverton would be a $2.5 billion, 6.5 million square-foot mixed-use development located on 400 acres. The developer says "it will primarily be marketed to empty nesters and single Millennials, however some families may also be part of the resident mix."

Headquartered in Cincinnati, North American Properties is the developer responsible for other mixed-use development projects, such as this one called Avalon in metro Atlanta. However, just this week it was reported that North American pulled out of a similar mixed-use development proposal, to be called "Revel," in metro Atlanta. North American Properties pulled out of its $900M Revel project this week, this Atlanta-based business newspaper reported.

Riverton would be their first project in the New York metro area. You can read FAQs answered by the developer and peruse the Riverton website.