Landfills to Golf Links: Meadowlands Golf Project Tees Off

LYNDHURST, New Jersey, May 20, 2004 (ENS) - New Jersey has plans to turn more than 700 acres of landfills and contaminated land into a golf village in the Meadowlands District. The Meadowlands Golf Redevelopment Project will be one of the largest brownfields-to-greenfields projects in the country, state and local officials say.

Governor Jamaes McGreevey launched the project on Tuesday. “This $1.1 billion Garbage-to-Golf project will protect the environment, create jobs and help taxpayers,” he said. “This is how redevelopment should be done. We’re balancing growth with our efforts to protect our drinking water and preserve open space. Through smart growth and redevelopment we are building a better New Jersey.”

The governor announced the start of the project at a news conference where he was joined by Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin, State Senator Paul Sarlo, Lyndhurst Mayor James Guida and project developer Bill Gauger, president of EnCap Golf Holdings, LLC.

“Land that once gave New Jersey a black eye will be transformed into a destination location for residents in and outside of New Jersey,” said Levin, who also chairs the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. “By successfully balancing environmental remediation and preservation with economic development, we have achieved a win-win-win - for the state, the Meadowlands Commission and the people of New Jersey.”

The landfills being redeveloped stretch across the lowland portions of Rutherford, Lyndhurst, and a small part of North Arlington. Remediation of the landfills will result in cleaner water in the Hackensack River and Newark Bay Complex and will help the Meadowlands Commission’s ongoing efforts to preserve the environmental integrity of this district.

New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) provided $150 million in tax exempt bond financing for the remediation.

"The $150 million in tax exempt bond financing provided through the EDA will enable EnCap to move ahead with the remediation of the site," said Caren Franzini, EDA chief executive officer. "Overall, the project is a vital piece to the regional economy as it will result in hundreds of new permanent and construction jobs, provide new recreational, commercial and residential uses, and reclamation of brownfield properties."

The project covers 785 acres and four landfills. When complete it will result in two public 18-hole golf courses, 750 hotel rooms, 750,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail space, 1,130 active adult residential units and 850 open market residential units.

Two additional golf courses will be added in a second phase of the Golf Village, producing a total of four golf courses in the Meadowlands District.

The project is expected to create 2,400 full time jobs and 500 construction jobs and will generate $19.1 million in property taxes.