Avenel Arts Village Redevelopment Plan Moves Forward

The Woodbridge Township council unanimously adopted the plan for an Avenel Arts Village on the former General Dynamics property in Avenel on Tuesday evening.

The Avenel Arts Village is a plan to create 500 housing units of apartments and condominiums with one or two bedrooms, an arts center and retail space at the location.

The purpose of the plan is to take advantage of the vacant property's close proximity to the Avenel Train Station and serve as a Transit, Artisan village.

A few residents expressed concerns at council meetings that building these apartments would increase enrollment in the nearby schools. Although council members stated that they do not expect this to be an issue because this area will probably serve as more of a haven for artists and commuters.

However, Mayor John McCormac informed residents that the Township would pay the Board of Education for any costs associated with students coming from this development with money received from the tax agreement they hold with the developer. 

McCormac added that the Township has a conceptual agreement already in place with the Board of Education on this issue, but exact dollar amounts have not been discussed since the project’s completion is still a few years down the line.

“The school board will not be hurt by this development,” the Mayor said.

Councilwoman Michele Charmello interjected at Tuesday’s council meeting stating she has trouble understanding why anyone is against the plan.

“We are bringing an Arts Village to an empty vacant space,” she said. “This is great for Avenel.”

The Council also clarified that any environmental issues that may exist on the property must be fully remediated by the builder in ordinance with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s current standards.

Also, plans are in place for walkways from the already existing homes to the retail establishments, proposed theater and train station, but no cut-trough’s for vehicles will be created from the current residential area.

View the full Avenel Arts Village proposed plan, here.

In 2007 the Township looked to the Planning Board to study if the General Dynamics was in need of redevelopment and an in-depth redevelopment plan was created in 2009, but was recently adjusted this March.

According to the report, the vacant industrial properties have not been used in over a dozen years and border an NJ Transit rail and Avenel Street.

The owner of the property is 150 Avenel Street, LLC, but McCormac explained that the owner is not necessarily the developer.