Advance Realty, a leading Northeast U.S. owner and developer of Class A office properties and mixed-use developments, today announced that it has completed full remediation of the Riverbend District, the new name for Harrison MetroCentre. Advance Realty changed the project name to better reflect what it’s becoming – the leading new live, work and play, mixed-use urban district in New Jersey.
As one of the largest brownfield, mixed-use, redevelopment transit districts underway in New Jersey, the Riverbend District is now ready for horizontal infrastructure construction to begin following the removal of more than 48,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the project site. With the site cleaned up for residential development, next up for Advance Realty is the construction of site utilities and roadways in time for the October 2009 opening of the 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena, one key element of the Riverbend District.
Overall, phase one of the Riverbend District (www.riverbenddistrict.com) will feature more than 800,000 square feet of retail space, including an anchor grocery and retailers, a 16-screen cinema and notable restaurants; a 200-room hotel and a 350-room, full service hotel with 25,000 square feet of conference space; a wellness center; 1.5 million square feet of office space; and approximately 1,800 for sale and rental residential units. Vertical construction is expected to begin in early 2010.
“Completing such an extensive site remediation truly gets the ball rolling toward horizontal and vertical construction of the Riverbend District,” said Peter J. Cocoziello, president and CEO of Advance Realty. “When completed, Riverbend District will be comprised of several interconnected neighborhoods where people can shop, stroll, dine and be entertained while enjoying all the comforts and conveniences of this community’s ideal location.”
Kevin Tartaglione, senior vice president and COO of Advance Realty Development, added, “Representing a public/private partnership between Advance Realty and the township of Harrison, the Riverbend District will breathe new life, as well as new jobs, ratables and infrastructure improvements, into this previously obsolete site. What was an old brownfield site will now become a living, breathing urban district right in the heart of the country’s most vibrant and accessible metropolitan area.”
As a transit-oriented community, the Riverbend District is also within close proximity to multiple modes of mass transit, including N.J. Transit, Amtrak and a centrally located, onsite PATH station (that is receiving $180 million in upgrades), allowing easy access to Newark Penn Station. The district is also only 15 minutes by train to Manhattan, is highly accessible by all Northern New Jersey’s major roadways, and is just minutes from Newark Liberty International Airport via rail service or car.
About Advance Realty
Headquartered in Bedminster, N.J., Advance Realty is an owner and developer of office, mixed-use, flex, industrial, retail and multifamily properties. One of the company’s prominent projects includes the Riverbend District, a new, urban mixed-use district in Harrison, N.J., that will feature more than 800,000 square feet of retail space, several hotels, 1.5 million square feet of office space, and approximately 1,800 for sale and rental residential units.
Advance Realty is also in the process of developing and leasing The Picatinny Applied Research Campus (The PARC), a new, high-tech office/research park located at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, N.J. The PARC is a planned, multi-phase 1.1 million-square-foot development of one- to three-story build-to-suit and multi-tenanted buildings with labs, Class A office space, and multi-purpose flex space.
Overall, with 4.5 million square feet of operating properties and a development portfolio consisting of eight million square feet of commercial projects and 9,400 residential units, Advance is one of the leading real estate owners in the Northeast. For more information, contact Advance Realty at (908) 719-3000 or visit www.advancerealtygroup.com.
