Roche Closing Takes Jobs, Money From Nutley

A day after its largest employer after 80 years in the township, Nutley began to look toward the reality of a post-Roche landscape.

An iconic campus known for its groundbreaking pharmaceutical research, Roche stood as the last of the industrial giants that once lined Route 3. When it puts the padlock on its 127 acres next year, 72 township residents are scheduled to be among the 1,000 people to lose their jobs.

will also take with it about $9 million in tax revenue.

The site was the company's headquarters until 2009, when it acquired Genentech, a biotechnology company in California. It shifted the focus of the Nutley campus to research and development.

Nutley Commissioner Thomas Evans said he was surprised by the move -- which the company said is to cut costs -- because Roche has put millions of dollars into building improvements in recent years.

“They just this spring completed a brand new, elevated walkway,” Evans said. The company also spent $25 million on a facelift for the signature building’s glass exterior.

The impact of the impending closure on local businesses may be minimal, as Roche employees often stayed on campus, using the facility's cafeteria and shop, Mayor Alphonse Petracco said.

The mayor owns a deli just two blocks from the campus.

Sam Fleitell, owner of on Franklin Avenue, said Wednesday that he tried to get business from Roche employees, but was never really successful.

“There is not a lot of overflow of their employees into the community. Less of their employees live in town, but those left were customers once in a while, and now they’ll join so many others unemployed in town," he said. "It’s just been tough on businesses for the last several years."

Petracco said Wednesday that Tom Lyons, the director of day-to-day operations at Roche, explained that the move to leave Nutley was to save and consolidate costs in research and development. Roche reportedly stopped developing a cardiovascular drug in May after it did not do well in late-stage trials.

Evans, the commisioner, said Roche was given tax abatements that were being phased-in based on the new construction and improvements.

"The only question is if we are going to get those taxes now," he said. The company has said it will sell the property in 2015 after performing environmental remediation work.

Evans and Petracco said that the town and Roche should work together to attract a buyer for the site. They both said only one building on the Nutley property, building no. 85, is being demolished, so the site will remain attractive to potential companies.

Petracco said Lyons assured him that Roche would select a buyer that would satisfy Nutley’s need to protect its tax base.

Residents are invited to a Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the council chambers on Chestnut Street, where a Roche official will be available to answer questions.