The site is actually on the verge of changing hands, a deal which could be facilitated by a redevelopment designation from the council. According to attorney Michael J. Gross, an attorney representing Century Land Development of East Brunswick, NJ, his client is under contract to buy the site from current owner Bushwick Realty Corp., a local firm.

While no specific plans have been outlined for the tract, local officials anticipate that it will draw mixed uses. The site fronts on Raritan Bay and two other waterways in this community's northeast corner, and the Red Bank-based Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates Inc., a planning firm, did a redevelopment study on it. A presentation offered by the firm's Gordon Litwin preceded the planning board's approval of the redevelopment resolution.

Locally termed "the Aeromarine site," the tract was once occupied by the long-defunct Aeromarine Plane and Motor Corp., which manufactured training aircraft for the military during World War I and for a number of years thereafter. The company opened for business in 1917 and closed the site down for good in the late 1930's.

The site is in need of substantial remediation, as the Phillips Preiss Shapiro presentation pointed out. Besides several vacant buildings, including a warehouse and a hangar, the site also contains a landfill that "leeches contaminates into Raritan Bay," according to the report.

According to Gross, buyer-to-be Century Land Development has spent more than $600,000 in site-related studies prior to the pending closing of the acquisition. It's estimated that the cost of remediating the tract will be in the $20-million range, a price Gross indicates his client is willing to pay.