Long abandoned Amboy Cinemas in N.J. once visited by Staten Island movie-goers to be redeveloped

View of the abandoned Amboy Cinemas — closed since 2005— in Sayreville in 2008. On Sept. 27, the town council approved an ordinance establishing a redevelopment plan for the underutilized site located near the entrance to town. Photo credit: NOAH ADDIS/THE STAR-LEDGER
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After 17 years of collecting dust and being vandalized, the long abandoned Amboy Cinemas in Sayreville may finally have new purpose.

Last month, the borough council approved an ordinance establishing a redevelopment plan for the vacant 19.5 acre site at routes 9 and 35 that proposes a variety of commercial retail, hotel, conference center, recreational, office, and professional uses.

“This is the entrance, the gateway of our town,” said Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick at the council’s Sept. 27 meeting. “This is what you come over the bridge and you see every single day — so this one, we all have to watch.”

The rundown Amboy Multiplex Cinemas, previously owned by National Amusements Inc., is one of the first things visitors see when entering the Middlesex County borough of Sayreville, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region.

Today, the weathered old movie theater is referred to as an eyesore. But back when it opened in December 1979, Amboy Cinemas was a lively and popular gathering place.

The theater was a major destination for family outings in Middlesex County, drawing long lines for the release of iconic blockbusters, such as the original Star Wars trilogy films.

Moviegoers line up outside the Amboy Cinemas in Sayreville for the premiere of "Return of the Jedi" on May 25, 1983. (File photo)

Built in a marshy area, Amboy Cinemas’ run came to an end in 2005, when a routine inspection found infrastructure problems that involved a sinking main floor, according to reporting at the time by CentralJersey.

The building has been in disrepair ever since.

The abandoned site has also become popular among urban explorers over the years, who post videos to YouTube of themselves trespassing onto the property and walking through its eery interior, a time capsule of early-aughts cinema.

National Amusements sold the neglected parcel for $6.75 million in October 2020 to Dice Real Estate LLC, a Newark based corporation, according to property records. But nothing has happened with the property since then.

In August 2021, the Sayreville planning board made a recommendation to the town council that the Amboy Cinemas site be designated as “an area in need of redevelopment.”

The council subsequently authorized a local engineering consultant, CME Associates, to prepare a redevelopment plan, which has now been approved by both borough governing bodies.

As part of the plan, a redeveloper, “will need to be chosen and then required to enter into a redevelopment agreement with SERA and the borough that stipulates the precise nature and extent of the improvements to be made and their timing and phasing as permitted therein.”

It’s unclear if Dice Real Estate will be that redeveloper. The company’s registered agent, attorney Neil Prupis, a partner at Wilson Elser in Florham Park, did not respond to a request for comment.

Redevelopment of the old Amboy Cinemas property has been a long time coming, said Councilwoman Michele Maher ahead of the council’s unanimous vote last month.

“Sayreville deserves better and that’s a great place to start,” Maher said.

The redevelopment plan establishes permitted land uses, bulk and area requirements and design standards for any proposed development at the former Amboy Cinemas Site, which contains three properties just south of the Raritan River.

The redevelopment area should, “fit into and be compatible with the commercial, residential and waterfront uses of the development of the former National Lead site and the existing highway commercial character of the surrounding area,” the plan says.

Under the redevelopment plan, permitted uses at the site include office, retail, grocery store, education, medical, assisted living, hotel, gym, restaurant, entertainment, park-and-ride and open space.

Prohibited used include warehouse, industrial, auto and trailer storage, single- and multi-family housing, freestanding automated bank teller and outdoor storage of goods and materials.

According to the plan, the adjoining waterfront redevelopment area is currently under remediation monitored by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. There is also noted groundwater contamination on adjoining properties which may extend contamination onto the site and all areas are subject to environmental cleanup regulations, the plan says.

In addition, Federal Emergency Management Agency mapping indicates a major portion of the site is in a flood zone, so any redevelopment will be subject to a formal wetlands investigation by the DEP, according to the redevelopment plan.

The 19.5-acre former Amboy Cinemas site is located on Routes 9 & 35 and contains three properties, just south of the Raritan River. The redevelopment plan approved by Sayreville council in September establishes permitted land uses, bulk and area requirements and design standards for any proposed development.

The goal is to transform the “underutilized parcel within the redevelopment area to economically and socially productive uses, which will contribute to the general welfare of the borough and the revitalization of the highway business core in the northeast portion of the borough,” the plan says.

No housing is planned to be built within the redevelopment area.

The redevelopment plan for the former Amboy Cinemas site does allow for a tax deal, or payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement which provides tax exemptions to the developer in lieu of payments directly to the town.

However, it is not a requirement of the redevelopment plan and any PILOT agreement must go through all the necessary approvals, Mayor Kilpatrick said previously.

Kilpatrick added she was “exceptionally concerned” about an apparent frequency of PILOT agreements in the area — a concern also raised by residents.

Kilpatrick said she would be mindful of the issue.

“We can’t afford to sell out our community,” said Kilpatrick. “We can’t afford to hand over large amounts of cash to developers where projects are maybe not as dire, or in jeopardy, or fiscally not reasonable — and we need to get better at doing that. We need to hold all those people that are on our committees accountable for those decisions and we need to question them.”

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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.

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