Warehouse the size of six football fields proposed for Route 202 in Hunterdon

RARITAN TOWNSHIP – A proposal to build a 353,803-square-foot warehouse at the intersection of Route 202 and Voorhees Corner Road will be heard by the township Planning Board on May 8.

The warehouse, about 1 ½ times the size of the Flemington Marketplace diagonally across the highway, is planned for the former U.S. Bronze site which has been designated a redevelopment area by the Township Committee.

The hearing had originally been scheduled for April 24 but was put off until May.

Woodmont Properties , the developer, is proposing a warehouse with 36 loading doors and 23 knock-out loading doors for use by future tenants, if required.

The plan also calls for 61 trailer storage spaces on the site and three detention basins for stormwater management.

Woodmont, which also owns residential properties and warehouses throughout Central Jersey, approached the township in September 2021 with a concept plan to build warehouses on the property.

After negotiations with Woodmont, the township decided to go ahead with the concept plan.

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In 2019, the township began considering the redevelopment of the site after reaching a settlement with United States Metal Powders, the owner of the property, in the company's intervention in the township's affordable housing litigation.

The settlement called for the township to undertake the redevelopment study "to resolve these matters and avoid further litigation and associated costs."

The factory on the property has been vacant for several years after operations were moved to Pennsylvania more than a decade ago. United States Metal Powders is the world's largest producer of aluminum powder.

The Raritan Township plant was built in 1957 and at one time employed more than 120 people.

U.S. Bronze was the site of a series of explosions in September 1981 in which two workers were killed.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Warehouse the size of six football fields proposed for Route 202 in Hunterdon