NJ builder approved to replace abandoned office campus with 449 homes

Ridgewood Real Estate Partners’ proposed redevelopment of a defunct office campus took a big step forward as the Wayne planning board approved it.

The board blessed Ridgewood’s 449-home project at 1361 Alps Road after a series of hearings over recent months, NorthJersey.com reported. The board is expected to pass a resolution codifying its approval at its next meeting.

Jonathan Grebow’s Florham Park-based company hopes to start razing office buildings on the site by the end of this year. Construction of new roads would commence in the first quarter on a project that could take more than six years to complete, according to Grebow.

The redevelopment, the largest in memory in Wayne, is on a 99-acre site where GAF Materials was headquartered. The roofing supplies maker owned the site for nearly half a century before township officials and the company agreed in January 2020 to redevelop it.

The corporate campus has been vacant since GAF moved to Parsippany-Troy Hills in February 2015. Ridgewood purchased the site two years ago for $17 million.

Once built, the Villas at Wayne Hills would apparently be a traditional suburban residential development, albeit with far more townhouses (439) than single-family dwellings (10). Ninety units will be set aside for low-income households, a requirement of the 2020 redevelopment agreement.

Ridgewood plans to put in a clubhouse and 70,000 square feet of amenities, including a pool and a sports court.

Concerns raised about the project have included increased traffic and stormwater drainage at the sloped property. Ridgewood might plant native grasses at the site’s basins to suck up pollutants.

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The developer’s traffic engineer argued that there would be fewer trips during peak hours than if the office park were fully occupied, although that is clearly a hypothetical, given today’s office market.

The development’s estimated price tag has not been divulged. Grebow did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Real Deal.

— Holden Walter-Warner