Latest to sign on is Hillier, the Princeton, NJ-based architectural firm, which will develop a master plan for the site, whose industrial operations were shut down a decade ago. Those operations--mostly the old Cameron Pump Works--occupied 145 acres. The rest of the acreage, while owned by I-R, was unused.

Hillier joins the signings, at the end of last year, of the Garibaldi Group of Chatham, NJ, which is providing office and industrial sales and leasing, financial and project development services; and Gerald H. Genet Inc., a Maplewood, NJ-based brokerage firm that was hired to attract retailers and other commercial third parties. I-R officials say they are currently negotiating with third parties for use of up to 900,000 sf of space in existing on-site industrial buildings.

The City of Phillipsburg, which is located in Northern New Jersey's Warren County, was involved early-on in the proposed redevelopment and, in fact, had named a developer of choice for the project. The South Whitehall, PA-based Brownfield Realty, which at one point was poised to buy the site outright, is no longer in the picture.

"We have been an important corporate citizen of Phillipsburg for more than 100 years, and we are eager to work with the town to implement our development strategy," explains James Sladack, I-R's vice president of real estate for global business services. "That strategy encompasses the entire 385 acres of vacant and improved property.

The short-term goal is to develop a master plan within the next three months, according to Sladack, an effort that will "demonstrate any engineering constraints on the site." From that process will emerge such parameters as road and utility placement, as well as setbacks for wetlands. Site remediation issues are also expected to be addressed.

For I-R, of course, the project is a little out-of-the-box. The Woodcliff Lake, NJ-based company is better known for its safety and security, climate control, industrial solutions and infrastructure products, made and marketed under such brand names as Schlage Locks, Thermo King, Hussman, Club Car, Dresser-Rand and Kryptonite.