BAYONNE, NJ-This city's planning board approved a plan to add 20 acres owned by a chemical company to an existing 35-acre site, effectively designating the now 55-acre site for redevelopment. City officials say they're targeting the site for retail development.

The approval came over the objection of AGC Chemicals America, a Japanese company that continues to operate a chemical plant on adjacent acreage it owns. AGC officials have said that they intend to make the site their headquarters, but won't have the room if they can't use the 20 acres in question. The planning board's action also sets up an eminent domain scenario.

The site is within this city's Route 440 Corridor East redevelopment area, and city officials say they want a "big-box" power center on the 55-acre site. "Bayonne is the last market in Hudson County without a power center," says Michael O'Connor, the city's economic development director.

According to a published report, city officials have also begun negotiations with a developer to get the power center done. O'Connor has declined to identify the developer, or confirm that negotiations are under way, but sources say it's the Cameron Group LLC of Syracuse, NY. The latter is a three-year-old firm headed by Thomas Valenti, a one-time partner in the Syracuse-based Pyramid Cos. Valenti could not be reached for comment.

The site, which was rezoned from heavy industrial to light industrial/commercial several years ago, faces a lot of work to prepare it for retail use. It has been in heavy industrial use for more than a century and needs extensive remediation. According to city officials, former owner Exxon Corp. is legally responsible for the clean-up.