Moorestown Moving Forward With Proposed Lockheed Martin Land Swap

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown will enter in to a land swap agreement with Lockheed Martin after the defense company and the U.S. Navy expressed national security concerns over a proposed affordable housing complex in the area.

Moorestown Council unanimously approved a proposed ordinance to exchange the property known as the Nagle Tract with a 12.5 acre piece of land on Borton Landing Road that is currently owned by Lockheed Martin at its meeting Monday night.

It also unanimously approved a proposed ordinance to re-zone the piece of land on Borton Landing Road to accommodate affordable housing, and re-zone the Nagle Tract for business zoning purposes.

It did so after receiving pushback from members of the public, who questioned how a housing complex can pose a national security threat to the U.S. government; asked why the new site was chosen; and expressed concerns over traffic in the area.

“The assumption that it poses a security risk is a conclusion,” attorney Ron Gasrorowski said of a letter sent to the township from the Navy. “What is it based on?”

Gasrorowski contended that the land swap is being done to benefit the developer, who has a better chance of selling housing in an area where there are other homes as opposed to across the street from a defense contractor.

The developer is the Walters Group, which plans to develop a mix of 76 market rate units and 76 low- to moderate-income units. At least 25 percent of the units would have to have three bedrooms for Moorestown to qualify for federal tax credits associated with the project.

A maximum of 20 percent have to be one-bedroom units, and the rest would have two bedrooms.
Moorestown has to have the plan in place by Aug. 31 to qualify for the tax credits. Read more here: Moorestown Council Considering Land Swap With Lockheed Martin

The complex was originally scheduled for the Nagle Tract, which has been set aside for affordable housing for more than 30 years.

In 2019, Moorestown Council approved a memorandum of understanding between the township and Walters-Cornerstone Development LLC for the development of an affordable housing complex at the Nagle Tract. Read more here: Council Appoints Redeveloper For Moorestown Mall

In May of this year, Lockheed Martin and the Navy came before council and expressed concerns about unspecified national security threats posed by a housing development so close to their property. Read more here: National Security Concerns Spur Moorestown Land Swap Proposal

Officials maintain that the Walters Group originally wanted to develop land on the Nagle Tract, but were able to adapt their plans based on the request.

The swap is comparable, as both pieces of land cover 12.5 acres of land. If they refuse the deal, officials said the U.S. government could exercise Eminent Domain on the land.

Failure to develop any land for affordable housing would put Moorestown at risk of not meeting its obligation to Fair Share Housing Center in time for its next compliance hearing, opening the township up to a builder’s remedy lawsuit.

The 76 units in this project must be built to help Moorestown meet its third round obligation of 337 affordable housing units by 2025 under an agreement reached with the Fair Share Housing Center in 2018. Read more here: Moorestown Approves Deal With Fair Share Housing Center

Under this project, 76 units is 50 percent of the project. If the township is sued, this opens the door for developers to make the 76 units a smaller amount, such as 20 percent of their total project, resulting in a lot more development, officials argued.

Residents who came out for Monday night’s meeting also argued that they weren’t given adequate notice of the proposal, and asked council to take more time to consider their decision.

One argued that the township needs to make sure it gets what it needs out of the deal, and there were concerns about Lockheed Martin developing the Nagle Tract.

Lockheed Martin has said it would not develop the land, but some residents feared they could sell the land to another developer down the line.

The proposed project for Borton Landing Road will have to go through the planning board and back before council, so residents will have more opportunity to comment before the development becomes a reality.