State Agency Buys Waterfront Tract for $3M

The seller was the LaVerghetta family, which had operated the River Barge Club, a restaurant on two restored barges, for more than three decades before shutting it down earlier this year. At one time, the now-former owner proposed building a townhouse community on the site.

"Now that the commission has finally acquired this property, we can move forward with turning this rundown restaurant into a state-of-the-art marina," says Charles Richman, chairman of the NJMC and also acting head of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. And the NJMC had plenty of help in pulling the deal together. The Port Authority of NY/NJ, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Meadowlands Conservation Trust, the NY/NJ Baykeeper and the Hackensack Riverkeeper were all involved. Much of the money to buy the site came from the Port Authority and NOAA.

"The program's objective is to acquire properties threatened by development," says Eldon Hout, director of NOAA's Office of Ocean & Coastal Resource Management. "The Port Authority's 10-year strategic plan takes a comprehensive approach to developing the region," adds Michael B. Francois, the authority's chief of real estate and economic development. "However, we must balance that with the delicate task of preserving our natural resources."

The marina project itself will include trails, a promenade, educational areas and a pumping station. Part of the $2.5-million construction cost will be allocated to restoring 45 acres of the adjacent 600-acre Richard P. Kane Nature Area, which is now under state ownership. The larger tract was once known as the Empire Tract and targeted for development of a massive retail project by the Mills Corp. However, as part of the latter's deal with the state to co-develop the Meadowlands Xanadu project nearby, Mills gave up its plans and ceded the site to the state.