Plans Underway For Secaucus Grocery Store To Open

SECAUCUS, NJ — In groundbreaking news for the residents of Secaucus, steps are in motion to bring a full-service supermarket back into town, according to Mayor Mike Gonnelli.

The grocery store will be located at 845 First Street, a 20,000-square foot building (which has sat vacant for years) with a warehouse in the back. That property is owned by J&A Managing Estates LLC, a privately owned company that owns several other large tracts of land in Secaucus.

The property is zoned for commercial use. The grocery store will be called Secaucus Grocers and the grocery will pay monthly rent to J&A LLC.

None of the current buildings will be torn down: The vacant building in the front (formerly a karate studio), will be converted into the grocery store. J&A Estates will continue to operate the warehouse in the back; it is currently operating as a restaurant supply warehouse.

The grocery store will be operated by Sachin Goel, who lives in Secaucus, along with two other business partners, Suraj Singh (also a Secaucus resident) and Rambir Singh.

"This is my first time running a supermarket, and my partners as well, but I have a strong background in business and technology," Goel told Patch Tuesday. "Look, I've lived in Secaucus for the past nine years. I always just intended to stay in this town for two to three years, but I realized this is such a great town. The one thing we have been missing is a supermarket. Yes, there is the Walmart but it's so crowded and chaotic there. This will be a real full-service supermarket right in the center of town."

Goel is repeating a complaint often echoed among Secaucusites: Why don't we have a town supermarket?! There used to be an Acme where the Secaucus CVS is, but that closed many years ago. Since then, Walmart has been the only supermarket in town. However, there is the farmers' market in Plaza Center, which in recent years added a fishmonger and butcher.

Goel said for the past eight months, he and his partners have been discussing the idea of opening a grocery store at the First Street location. He said they discussed rent payments with property owner J&A and pitched the idea to the town Council and Mayor Gonnelli; the mayor has been strongly supportive of the plan from the start, both he and Goel said.

"It's happening," vowed Gonnelli Tuesday.

"It will be bigger than a farmers' market and smaller than a ShopRite," said Goel. "This is a big opportunity for my business partners and I to do something big for the community and build a legacy in Secaucus. We envision this as a true neighborhood market, a place you can walk to, grab a coffee, a pastry and fresh groceries." Get amazing hyper-local Secaucus news. Sign up for Patch: https://patch.com/subscribe

There may be some issues over parking

At the Zoning Board meeting Monday night, J&A Estates had to have these two variances approved for the supermarket to open: The first was the approval of 36 parking spaces that already exist at the site.

The town of Secaucus is only requiring the grocery store to have about 50 parking spaces. So there are the 36 already on site, and the remainder, to be used for employee parking, will be located across the street in the China Chef parking lot.

However adding a monkey wrench to all this is that the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority (formerly the Meadowlands Commission) requires that 113 parking spaces be built for any supermarket. The Sports & Expo Authority, a familiar foe of Gonnelli's, oversees all development done in the Meadowlands.

Gonnelli insisted that the town of Secaucus has authority in this matter. As Patch reported in the past, Gonnelli often finds himself battling the Meadowlands Commission.

J&A also asked for a variance to build a loading dock in the back warehouse area.

Both of those requests were approved by the Zoning Board Monday night, with only two of the eight members voting "no." The two are Bill De Iasi and Jack Spiro. It remains unknown why they voted against the grocery store.

Goel said he envisions many will walk to the grocery store.

"We are really expecting to get walking traffic, given that it's in the heart of town," he said.

Gonnelli pointed out that parking in Secaucus is already at a premium.

"Look at the CVS parking lot. They have over 100 spaces as required and it's already hard to get a spot there. So even having the required amount of parking is not going to solve everything," he said.

A long, complicated history of 845 First Street

The large commercial building at 845 First Street has sat vacant for many years now and it was basically an eyesore in the center of town.

Knowing that residents wanted an in-town grocery store, property owner J&A said he met with the operators of many commercial grocers over the years: A&P, Acme, ShopRite. They always declined to open at the site, saying it was too small.

"They always wanted more space; they always said they needed 80,000 square feet for a grocery store," he said.

Then, J&A sought to convert the property into a 36-unit high-rise apartment complex, but that was met with opposition from the town (Gonnelli did not support it) and plans fell through.

"This new grocery store will be the size the old Acme was: 20,000 square feet," said Gonnelli. "It's going to be great. I know some of the neighbors are worried there's going to be traffic, but I don't think it will generate that much traffic."

Goel said he wants to begin rehabbing the front "as soon as possible. It's going to look really nice: Big windows, columns, a new storefront."

Gonnelli said he expects construction will begin in the next two to three months.

Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com