Middle Eyes Rio Site For Redevelopment

RIO GRANDE – The last several months have been busy in Middle Township as economic development efforts show promising movements.
Working with the planning board and an outside special land use counsel brought on to advise on state redevelopment law, the governing body has designated several areas of the municipality as redevelopment or rehabilitation zones.
The designations provide the township with greater flexibility to attract and meet the needs of a potential developer. They also provide the governing body with tools to guide development following an overall vision for the direction such development will take.
One of those designations, just months old, is already seeing interest by a developer familiar with and already heavily invested in the township, Delco Land Development, LLC.
Delco Development is the company that built and owns the Rio Grande Shopping Center complex which houses a number of national retail chains.
Recently, Tom Juliano of Delco spoke at an economic development event sponsored by the township and the Economic Development Council.
In his talk, Juliano referenced the strong results achieved by the stores in the Rio Grande complex. Juliano said Middle Township was a great place to do business.
Now, Delco is considering increasing its investment in the area. The township passed a resolution June 18 authorizing officials to enter negotiations with Delco regarding development on the site of the former concrete plant in Rio Grande, off Route 47 and stretching back behind the shopping center complex.
The area was designated as a redevelopment zone. A redevelopment plan was authorized earlier this year.
Juliano spoke at the conference about potential interest in developing rental properties in this space with the amenities necessary to attract millennials, and even older residents, who are showing a preference in national statistics for renting over owning.
Would a high-end rental community work in Middle Township?
Juliano seemed to think it would. He pointed to the number of people who told him that national chain retailers would not survive in a community so heavily tethered to a seasonal economy. Those individuals were proven wrong.
The resolution is only an authorization to enter into what Business Administrator Elizabeth Terenik called “the next stage” in the redevelopment process. It does, according to the resolution, allow the parties “to commence exclusive negotiations toward the formulation of a Redevelopment Agreement.”
The fact that the area in question has been designated as a redevelopment zone gives the township flexibility with respect to potential tax abatements and other incentives that can encourage investment.
The resolution designates Delco Land Development as a “conditional redeveloper” and sets a period of 180 days for the potential creation of a redevelopment agreement.
The negotiations during that period will be exclusively with Delco.
Any agreement that results from the talks with the developer would have to then return to the township committee for consideration and adoption.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.