HOLMDEL, NJ–Somerset Development is back on track with its proposed redevelopment of the iconic Bell Labs property here, and will close on purchase of the site from Alcatel-Lucent on Dec. 31. Purchase price was not disclosed.

“It definitely feels good to be in the driver’s seat again,” Ralph Zucker, CEO of Somerset, tells GlobeSt.com. He and the Holmdel mayor both said work is beginning immediately on a formal redevelopment agreement.

The agreement will hinge on plan to create a town center with health-and-wellness-related offices and a “promenade” inside the famous, mid-century modern building designed by Eero Saarenson. Up to 40 single-family homes and 185 age-restricted residential condominiums would be built on parts of the surrounding 472 acres, according to the redevelopment plan.

The town’s plan – which primarily reflected Somerset’s painstaking years-long campaign to win over town officials and residents to notion of a multi-use town center that included some housing - was officially adopted last May. In February, Elsie Sterling Oversight had abruptly stepped in and signed a purchase contract with Alcatel Lucent, saying it would adhere to whatever plan the town approved.

“We had, of course, done most of the work on creating that plan,” Zucker says. “While lucent chose to try to go another route,” he says Somerset did try to work with Elsie Sterling for a time. “We were willing to step back in and realize this vision we had put forth, which toward the end of a very long process had been well-received by the community.”

But then Somerset was ready, willing and eager to step back in, he tells GlobeSt.com, when Elsie Sterling missed a payment to continue its option the property in August.

Lucent has marketed the property since 2006, and originally signed a contract with a Pennsylvania developer who proposed to demolish of the building, saying it was functionally obsolete. That sparked an international campaign to save it, joined by Bell labs alumni, architects and historians from every corner of the globe – and several design summits aimed at coming up with a re-use plan.

Somerset Development first became interested in the property off Crawfords Corner Road in 2007 and produced its Town enter concept in 2010, staging an “open house” at the building – once guarded night and day to protect the secrecy of the research work that went on there – to engage local residents in its re-imagining.

“We lost control of the property for a time,” Zucker said Thursday, “but we never lost a deep sense of pride in helping to achieve a consensus on the repositioning and redevelopment of this singular, significant incredible space.”

Mayor Patrick Impreveduto said late last year that he had come to the conclusion that a development plan could not succeed without housing being one of the elements. He said after the announcement that Somerset was back in the picture that he was confident the property’s revitalization is now in sight.

Instant Insights /

Somerset Development Is Back In Driver's Seat With Bell Labs Building

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