Industrial Flex, Life Science Buildings Get Bridgewater Planning Board Approval

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Construction on the new Peters Brook Innovation Center, formerly known as the Center of Excellence, located off Route 202/206 at the former Sanofi-Aventis property could soon be underway.

The Bridgewater Planning Board recently approved the first of three phases for the updated project a special meeting on July 11 following a settlement with Advance Realty in June 2022.

The new project includes two smaller 30,000 square feet of retail/restaurant buildings, several research development life science-type buildings, and 2 industrial flex building which has several permitted uses - one of which is warehousing, said Council Vice President Timothy Ring at the July 20 meeting.

The applicant AR Bridgewater II, LLC will build the project in 3 phases.

The first phase entails the construction of the industrial flex space and one life science research and development(R&D) building, said Ring.

The Planning Board's first phase approval is contingent on the New Jersey Department of Transportation's approval. NJDOT must issue a letter of no interest, that essentially says the proposed traffic flows from phase 1 would not negatively impact Route 202/206 traffic, said Ring.

Phases 2 and 3 also received preliminary approval from the Planning Board but not final approval, said Ring.

Before work can begin on phases 2 and 3, AR Bridgewater II, LLC will have to reappear before the Planning Board. A full traffic impact study is also required before Phase 2 can start.

"It is also important to note that with the Planning Board approving this project, it automatically vacated the old Center of Excellence project approval," said Ring.

The original plan, touted as the largest development in the township's history since the Bridgewater Commons mall, featured a hotel, supermarket, fitness/wellness center, restaurants with outdoor dining, and around 400 luxury apartment units and boutique shops.

The board approved that plan in December 2019, despite residents' pleas for them not to.

A two-and-a-half-year legal battle then ensued before Bridgewater and Advance Realty reached a new agreement.

"The 400 apartments that could’ve negatively impacted our schools, the supermarket, the hotel, and the remaining retail portion of the project will not be built," said Ring.

While there are currently no tenants in place for the updated project, Ring was optimistic.

"Once fully developed with several hundred thousand square feet of life science and R&D space we should see the addition of many high-paying jobs to Bridgewater," said Ring.

To read more about the project's history, and the agreement, click here.

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