Warehouses planned for Unexcelled property

[news]

Warehouses planned for Unexcelled property

Friday, October 26, 2007 10:30 AM EDT
By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer

CRANBURY — Colorado redevelopment firm Viridian Partners unveiled preliminary plans Wednesday for what it would like to do on the former site of the Unexcelled Chemical Corp. on Brickyard Road.

Viridian purchased the 395-acre site in January 2006 and plans to build warehouses on it. The site had been home to Unexcelled Chemical Corp., a munitions manufacturer and Department of Defense contractor during World War II. A 1954 explosion left two workers dead, and the property littered with munitions. The site has been left unused since.

The firm’s plan calls for the construction of three warehouses, totaling 2.8 million square feet, running parallel to each other along the east side of the property. The east side runs along the N.J. Turnpike, about five miles from Exit 8A. Before this can be done though, the site must first be cleaned of the munitions, some of which are still live, spread around the property from the explosion.

According to Viridian CEO William Lynott, the firm has found more than 3,000 pieces of hardware since beginning the project, about 3 percent of which he estimates is still live.

”That’s still a big deal. They made grenades, napalm bombs, and fuses here.” Mr. Lynott said. “I definitely do not go walking around in there lightly.”

Mr. Lynott says that the extent the munitions contamination forced Viridian to rethink the original plan it conceived when purchasing the property. They had planned on building nine smaller warehouses spread throughout the property in a golf course-like format. They changed their design when they realized they could not guarantee that they could find every single munitions out there.
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http://www.packetonline.com/articles/2007/10/26/cranbury_press/news/doc4721f7a7acb3a522294736.prt

[Guest]

Do we really need 2.8 million square feet of MORE WAREHOUSING in Cranbury? Does it make sense to build over possible explosives? I'm sure they plan to add sewers to these site. Hmm, Doesn't that involve digging? What happens if Viridian Plans to sell the property? Will they disclose the possible explosives issue to the new owners?

"According to Viridian CEO William Lynott, the firm has found more than 3,000 pieces of hardware since beginning the project, about 3 percent of which he estimates is still live.

”That’s still a big deal. They made grenades, napalm bombs, and fuses here.” Mr. Lynott said. “I definitely do not go walking around in there lightly.”
Mr. Lynott says that the extent the munitions contamination forced Viridian to rethink the original plan it conceived when purchasing the property. They had planned on building nine smaller warehouses spread throughout the property in a golf course-like format. They changed their design when they realized they could not guarantee that they could find every single munitions out there.

The new plan calls for the removal of the munitions, and then building the warehouses over the affected area. This will create an impervious barrier that will prevent and pieces that might have been missed from resurfacing, and possibly detonating, accord to Mr. Lynott."