By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
TINTON FALLS – The sale of a 31.25-acre site on the former Fort Monmouth U.S. Army base to Robert Wood Johnson/Barnabas Health has stalled following the discovery of “emerging” environmental concerns on the property.
During the regular monthly meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) March 20, members unanimously voted to grant RWJ Barnabas Health, Inc. an additional six months, with the option for two additional six-month extensions, to complete its “due diligence” so the Army can continue ongoing environmental investigations, potentially extending finalization of the contract into 2025.
The health care firm plans to transform the parcel at Pinebrook Road and Pearl Harbor Avenue into a complex with a three-story medical office building, recreational facilities including two multipurpose athletic fields, one baseball field, up to five tennis courts and a field house; a solar system not to exceed 20% of the developable acreage at the back of the site, a public walking and nature trail, and open space.
A Purchase and Sale and Redevelopment Agreement between FMERA and RWJBH for the property was executed in October 2021, triggering the due diligence period during which the firm inspects the property. Several 30- and 90-day extensions have been granted since then. Last year, analysis detected the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), an “emerging contaminate.”
“The contaminant under review is ‘emerging,’ meaning it’s only newly been considered problematic and remediation standards historically did not exist,” said Sarah Giberson, FMERA’s director of real estate and marketing. “The Army and other environmental agencies are navigating new data and establishing an appropriate pathway forward.”
FMERA executive director Kara Kopach’s written recommendation to approve the latest extensions states, “As the U.S. Army was the prior owner of the property, the Army may potentially be responsible for any contamination.” The Army has completed its preliminary assessment of the site, and the remedial report is “forthcoming,” staff noted.
RWJBH will construct a roadway across the property connecting Pearl Harbor Avenue and Satellite Road within 15 months of closing. Once the complex is completed, RWJBH is contractually obligated to provide 300 full and/or part-time jobs.
Vogel Medical Campus Projects 2026 Completion
Adjacent to that parcel, bordered by Corregidor Road and Pearl Harbor Avenue across from the Tinton Falls municipal complex, construction on Monmouth Medical Center’s new Vogel Medical Campus continues toward a revised projected completion date of September 2026.
Monmouth Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, purchased that land in a separate contract in December 2022. It was previously the site of the Albert J. Myer Center, a large white hexagonal building where military technology was developed.
Groundbreaking occurred in June 2023 for the five-story, approximately 150,000-square-foot cancer center and ambulatory care pavilion. The outpatient center will include comprehensive cancer care in partnership with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, surgical services, advanced diagnostic imaging, physician offices and support services.
The new facility is named for philanthropists Sheldon and the late Anne Vogel of Colts Neck, longtime supporters of the hospital who gifted $50 million toward the facility in 2020.
On that site there is also an option to build an acute care hospital that would operate in conjunction with Monmouth Medical Center’s Long Branch campus.
The article originally appeared in the April 4 – April 10, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
