Cleaned-up brownfield gets new life in Perth Amboy, NJ

PERTH AMBOY — A waterfront site is going from contaminant to a logistics park.

Officials on Thursday broke ground on a remediated brownfield site that will eventually host a high-capacity storage and distribution center.

The project, BridgePort II, is located near Route 95 and the Outerbridge Crossing at 1160 State St., the former site of American Smelting and Refining Co.

"It was 80 years of environmental hazards that were cleaned up," Tashilee Vazquez, executive director of the Perth Amboy Redevelopment Agency, told New Jersey 101.5. "It's going to definitely benefit our neighborhood and revitalize a neighborhood that was once seen as blight and an eyesore right at the entrance of our city."

Vazquez said the project developer, Bridge Industrial, is creating an "environmentally sensitive" final product, including efforts to prevent untreated sewage from being released into waterways, and roofs that can accommodate solar panels.

The 73-acre site on the banks of the Arthur Kill is getting two industrial warehouses.

"This project is a perfect example of Perth Amboy's resurgence," said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex. "Local leaders seized the opportunity to take advantage of the strategic location to clean up the contamination of the past, attract jobs, and restore this property to the tax base for local services."

An estimated 1,500 permanent jobs are expected to be created by the project. It's not yet known who will be moving in, but any tenants will be told to hold a local job fair at least three months before opening for business.

Perth Amboy is also home to BridgePort 1, a distribution park with three buildings.

Construction of the BridgePort II project is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2024.

Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com

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