Former glass factory to be reborn as residential, retail 'Main Street'

Developers have taken the first steps toward transforming a shuttered glass factory in Aberdeen into a new mixed-use community just seconds from the Garden State Parkway.

A partnership of Somerset Development and Ingerman says it has started demolition and preliminary site work at the 51-acre former Anchor Glass industrial complex. Demolition is slated to go through April, making way for a redevelopment plan that calls for 500 for-sale townhomes and rental apartments, 75,000 square feet of retail space, a 110-room boutique hotel, a movie theater and designated open space, including a two-acre public recreation area.

All of it will revolve around a pedestrian-oriented “Main Street.”

“After years of planning and intense negotiations, the factory is coming down to make way for a beautiful mixed-used community that will give Aberdeen the ‘Main Street’ our residents have long desired and make this dormant property an economically beneficial asset for our town once again,” Aberdeen Mayor Fred Tagliarini said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to working with Somerset and Ingerman to create a community that we will all be proud of.”

Tagliarini was among the attendees at a ceremony Tuesday to mark the start of work at the Cliffwood Avenue site. The complex was originally built in 1962 and operated until 1996.

Ingerman will construct the first phase of residential units, which includes 110 affordable homes, according to a news release. Lakewood-based Somerset Development is the master developer of The Glassworks, as well as the firm behind the massive redevelopment of the former Bell Labs complex in nearby Holmdel.

“The Glassworks is an opportunity to create something great from what has become a burden and eyesore for the township of Aberdeen,” said Ralph Zucker, president of Somerset Development. “We’re excited to work with Ingerman, along with the township and its residents, to usher in the important next phase of this historic site — one that we’re confident will be an economic driver for the region and a valuable resource for Aberdeen residents, both old and new.”