Madison Ready for GVR Redevelopment Bids

The Green Village Road Redevelopment Committee is ready to request final proposals from a narrowed-down field of five developers, and the committee hopes to select the winning proposal by the end of the year, officials announced Friday.

The finalist candidates will be invited to submit their offers to buy the five-acre Green Village Road School property and their plans for developing it.

The developers are

• Roseland Property Group of Short Hills
• LCor Incorporated of New York City
• Continental Properties of Chatham
• The KRE Group of Bridgewater
• AvalonBay Communities of Iselin

Fifteen developers submitted qualifications documents. That field was narrowed to seven, and then the five.

The redevelopment committee is comprised of the mayor, Borough Council members, borough officials, Board of Education members and school district officials who have been meeting over the past two years.

At a meeting Thursday, the school board and council completed the details of the Request for Proposal, which is one of the final steps in selling the property, Mayor Bob Conley and Board of Education President Lisa Ellis said in a joint statement.

“Our goal in selling the property has always been to maximize both the short term and long term benefits to the community and to ensure that the development is something we are all proud of for years to come," Ellis said.

Both boards previously agreed to sell the property through the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law to give the boards more control of the design of the buildings, ensure the development occurs in a timely fashion, and increase the sale price of the property, Ellis said.

Conley said the list of interested companies is impressive and all of them mentioned how great the location is near both the Madison Train Station and downtown.

"We hope to have a developer selected by the end of the year," Conley said. “I don’t think anywhere in the state of NJ there has been a Board of Education and Council who have worked more closely together on a such an important project for the community.”