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When the Town of Kearny and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission looked to redevelop un-used industrial sites, both entities agreed upon a 25-acre parcel of land that had been a municipal landfill in the 1940s and 1950s and then had been subject to years of illegal dumping. Russo Development of Hackensack purchased the property in 2003 and remediated the site, which contained PCB and various impervious surfaces, including pavement and building foundations. From the ashes of this dumpsite, the Saw Mill Park was born.
The plan then was to develop Class A industrial buildings on the site. When Russo Development presented the idea of attracting the Pepsi Bottling Group, Kearny helped the developer with infrastructure improvements, such as reconstructing the Belleville Turnpike. The town also vacated a right-of-way for Russo so that the company could connect two parcels of land to accommodate the needed 11 acres for the facility. The Meadowlands Commission was instrumental with zoning assistance and other project components.
Russo began constructing the 135,398-square-foot facility in January 2007. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in October for the $20-million site. Pepsi moved into the facility with 150 jobs (125 full-time and 25 part-time). The project is the first step in redeveloping former industrial sites into hubs of economic activity in Kearny.
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