By John Burton
MIDDLETOWN – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s plan to move forward with its Middletown outpatient facility appears to be just what the doctor ordered for the area’s economy.
Local and county officials believe Memorial Sloan Kettering’s plans to renovate the 285,000-square-foot former Lucent Technology complex at 480 Red Hill Road, which has been vacant for 11 years, will be a shot in the arm.
The project, for which a formal groundbreaking ceremony was held last week, will serve as a stimulus for the area’s business community and real estate market without presenting any substantial downside, government officials and experts in planning and real estate said.
“It’s certainly a positive, a clear-cut benefit. No question about that,” said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Policy at Rutgers University.
“We see all positives coming from this, not only for the community but for the housing market,” said Cindy Marsh-Tichy, president of the New Jersey Association of Realtors.
Mike Teti, who manages Piazza Italia restaurant and pizzeria in the Holmdel Commons shopping center on Highway 35, said he believes, “It’s got to help, right? Anytime a new business opens it helps” his business, as employees travel the short distance to his location and other spots in the area for their lunch break.
The “gold standard” for economic development in Monmouth County for many years was Fort Monmouth and Holmdel’s Bell Labs, with its influx of activity and the jobs it brought to the area, Hughes said.
“All of that was transferred into personal income for Monmouth County, supporting personal consumption, the housing market and the like,” he said.
The loss of both facilities certainly impacted the region, he said.
The new Memorial Sloan Kettering site with its jobs, patients and families traveling here and possible relocation of employees is “keeping those dollars in the local economy,” Hughes said.
Lynda Rose, president and chief operating officer for the Eastern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce estimated the project means a “20 to 30 percent increase for local business just for the construction side.”
Joe Altieri, who owns and operates Sunnyside Market and Deli at the intersection of Sunnyside and Everett roads in Lincroft, believes the facility will offer a distinct benefit for his business.
“It’s going to help me out tremendously,” he said, starting with construction as workers look for a close-by stop for morning coffee, lunch and other items.
When Bell Labs shuttered its operation, Lucent closed up shop at the Red Hill Road spot and AT&T relocated some of its operations away from the area, it had a profound impact on his small business. “I dropped about 200 cups of coffee a day,” he said, noting that is a significant loss for his small shop.
“This is a good spot for a hospital,” directly off of the Garden State Parkway Exit 114, he said. “Anything that brings people into here has got to help,” Altieri said.
“Anytime a business of this size opens up and the more employees it brings, the more business you’ll see,” Rose said.
“It’s not just Middletown will benefit, it’s Holmdel, it’s Red Bank, the entire surrounding area,” she said. “It’s a whole new audience for every business and activity.”
Middletown Mayor Stephanie Murray believes the location of the facility in the township will have a positive effect on property values and real estate sales, both residential and commercial. “It shines a light on the area.”
“It’s not unusual for property values to increase with a desirable development project like this,” the Realtor association’s Tichy said. “Because they’re well known … I think it could cause an increase in activity in the market for the surrounding area.”
“I don’t think many people realize this, but the domino effect will be huge,” Monmouth County Freeholder Thomas Arnone said.
Representatives from Memorial Sloan Kettering joined officials and others last Thursday at the site for the kickoff of construction to convert the location on the Middletown/Holmdel border for its future use as one of the medical center’s suburban cancer treatment centers.
The Red Hill Road facility will be the latest of Sloan Kettering’s suburban sites. The others are situated in Basking Ridge, Long Island and in New York’s Westchester County.
According to Dr. Richard Barakat, deputy physician in chief of Sloan’s regional care network, about 6 percent of Sloan’s patients live in the area – Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties – that this facility will serve. Those patients otherwise would have to travel to Sloan’s main Manhattan location for needed treatment, he said.
Dr. Ephraim Casper, medical director for Sloan’s regional care network, said the center’s coverage area is expected to have a 17-percent increase in cancer cases during the next decade.
The facility will “reduce the need for time and travel” for local patients and will offer “convenient points of access” for treatment options, Barakat said.
Construction is expected be completed in late 2016.
Along with the medical activities the site will undertake, Sloan Kettering is planning on using the Middletown site as the data center for its entire operation, transferring roughly 100 existing jobs to the location. There will be another 106 new positions created, representatives said.
“It does have a real personal impact” on many levels said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who attended the ceremony.
Cancer, she noted, affects just about everyone in one way or another. She assured facility representatives that state government “will be here, working with you at every turn.”
The state has already weighed in with its support. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) in 2012 approved a tax credit for Sloan under the state’s Grow New Jersey Assistance Program and other programs that will be worth $7.9 million to Sloan Kettering over the course of 10 years, an EDA spokesman said at the time. As part of the deal, Sloan agrees to retain those jobs here for at least 15 years.
The EDA’s analysis determined the facility would be a $58.4 million benefit to the state over that period.
Sloan is committed to spending approximately $200 million on the Middletown site, according to Guadagno, noting the construction will mean a number of temporary construction jobs on site for about the next two years.
