A new distribution warehouse is scheduled to be proposed Thursday night for a large swath of vacant land in Middlesex County.
Federal Business Centers, an Edison-based real estate developer, wants to develop land near North Disbrow Hill Road and Butcher Road in Monroe into a 176,085-square-foot warehouse and office space, according to the plans.
The area is near Route 33 and the New Jersey Turnpike.
Patrick Connelly, Federal Business Centers’ executive director, said the company is only seeking preliminary site plan approval and the bulk variances at Monroe’s planning board meeting Thursday.
“We’ve attempted to create a beautiful building that would complement the township and beyond,” he told NJ Advance Media.
“I’m a lifelong resident of the Jamesburg-Monroe area myself, and went to Monroe High School, so it’s important to me that we do have a project that will be something that the residents of Monroe will like,” Connelly added.
Federal Business Centers currently owns the property, Connelly said. The site is set on 26 acres of land and consists of two properties.
The tract of land is mostly vacant, with some building remains near the front of the property along North Disbrow Hill Road and a cleared area that may have been farmland near the site’s center, according to the plans.
A developer is proposing to build a new building containing a warehouse and office space near North Disbrow Hill Road and Butcher Road in Monroe.Google Maps
Connelly said the company does not yet have an occupant for the proposed warehouse.
“It is a large building, but it is small in comparison” to a typical Amazon-size warehouse, he said. “So my hunch is that it would be more appealing to a local or regional warehousing company. But, we certainly have not pursued anyone yet or have anyone in mind.”
The agenda for the planning board’s meeting Thursday also includes a final site plan request for the project, but Connelly said the inclusion was due to a misunderstanding.
Township planning board attorney Jerome Convery said the board will decide whether to vote Thursday on the preliminary approval after hearing the applicant’s proposal and from officials and members of the public who wish to testify.
Warehouse construction has been a contentious issue in New Jersey for years, sparking lawsuits and protests in towns and counties across the state.
In 2023, state legislators proposed establishing a $1 million pilot program to reimburse municipalities to study the impact of warehouse development in their communities.
A year before that, the state Office of Planning Advocacy published new guidelines on warehouse development. The first-of-its-kind guidelines were created to help municipalities decide when to approve warehouse development while protecting New Jersey’s infrastructure and environment.
The proposed building in Monroe will include 167,085 square feet of warehouse space and 9,000 square feet of office space, according to the plans.
The project includes parking for 156 cars and 23 tractor-trailers. It will have 24 loading spaces.
The land development application was first submitted in December 2022. Freshwater wetlands and the floodplain of Bentley Brook are part of the tract, according to the plans.
The developer is requesting variances from the town for exceptions to parking and design regulations.
To the site’s north are single-family residential and commercial buildings and to the south is vacant land and large-lot single-family residences, according to the plans. Bentley Brook and vacant land is to the east and to the west are apartments and townhouses across Butcher Road.
According to the plans, a 100-foot-wide buffer area will be included along any road that abuts a residential zone.
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Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
