Secaucus Wawa, Gas Station Still Likely To Come To Meadowlands Parkway

SECAUCUS, NJ — Plans are still circulating to build a Wawa, a gas station and a hotel on the large empty lot on Meadowlands Parkway in Secaucus.

We first reported this in 2019, but it has taken more than five years for the state to finish environmental remediation at that site.

A developer, Opper Group of Elmwood Park, purchased that lot several years ago. They were the ones who approached the town and said they intend to open a Wawa, a gas station and a hotel there, according to Mayor Mike Gonnelli on Thursday afternoon.

This is the old "Hess property" directly on the Hackensack River and very close to the Rt. 3 bridge.

However, that land was deemed contaminated by the state and it has since had to undergo years of environmental remediation. The capping of the land is what is being done there currently; capping is usually the final step. However, the state of New Jersey has still not approved the remediation is finished, so no construction can take place there anytime soon.

Gonnelli said as far as he knows the developer would still like to open the Wawa, the hotel (name of hotel unknown) and the gas station (company unknown), and they are just waiting for final clearance from the state.

Mayor Gonnelli also stressed that no plans have been formally submitted before the town Planning Board. There is a sign up from the property owner for prospective companies to lease the site.

Secondly, in more big news, the building that used to be owned by Channel 9/WWOR-TV on Meadowlands Parkway has been purchased by Yan Moshe, the real estate developer/businessman who owns the Secaucus hospital, according to Mayor Gonnelli.

Gonnelli said Hudson Regional has plans to convert it to an extension of the hospital and it will become some kind of medical building.