79.36 acre facility (the “Project”)
Phoenix, Arizona
Our client is a major U.S. freight company whose new strategically located HUB will augment its national freight network, located on Camelback Road and the newly constructed Loop 303. The project is currently under construction and developed by KiernanWest. The $62,000,000 project is financed by the private equity of the principals of KiernanWest, along with traditional bank financing provided by UMB Bank. The project is located on the defunct Falcon Golf Course, located immediately adjacent to Luke Air Force Base.
The overall project comprised of 158 acres, which the client project and KiernanWest is providing all infrastructure.
In addition to building permits, the Project required:
- LEED certification, the largest LEED certified facility in the freight’s national network
- Discretionary jurisdiction approval of Zoning/Military Compatibility Permit
- Discretionary jurisdiction approval for a Site Plan Application by Maricopa County
- Project review by Luke Airforce Base, with necessary letter of support
- Federal FAA approval
- Annexation into Liberty Water District
- Extension of the CC&N and Arizona Corporation Commission approval for service
- Public Sewer and Water extensions
- Historical Fissure investigation and mitigation
- Flood Plain Improvements requiring a CLOMR and LOMR from the Army Corp of Engineers
- 100% detention requirement by Tenant for 200-year storm event
- The City of Goodyear’s approval/construction of a signalized interchange at Camelback Road
- Structural Bridges for two curb cut locations on Camelback Road over the Camelback Wash
- Public improvement of Camelback Road to full cross-sectional ultimate alignment, from its two-lane current condition
- Participation in off-site traffic impacts to current public improvements
- Inter-governmental agreement between three adjacent jurisdictions for dedication of ROW and construction of public roadway improvements.
The project was entitled in just under one year and will be completed in the 1st quarter of 2022.
46.3 acre facility (the “Project”)
North Arlington, New Jersey
Our client is one of the largest freight companies in the U.S. Their most critical strategic need in 2015 was a facility to replace its Newark facility, which was structurally failing. A 46.3 acre site located in the Zone was the solution, Kiernan was the selected preferred developer. The Zone was formerly the site of Bethlehem Steel adjacent to a New Jersey Meadowlands landfill, which a prior developer had remediated and capped. Kiernan worked with the Borough of North Arlington Economic Development and Redevelopment Agency. In addition to building permits, the Project required:
- Amendment to the Porete Redevelopment Plan
- Accommodation of a FEMA floodplain
- Council approved zoning and development agreement
- Mitigation of historic flood issues due to water surges from the tidally influenced Hackensack River
- Wetland delineation and mitigation
- Flood plain improvements requiring a CLOMR and LOMR from FEMA
- Wetland impacts permitted with Army Corps of Engineers using Nationwide Permit Numbers 7, 14, and 18
- Floodplain impacts permitted through New Jersey DEP
- Coastal impacts permitted through a Waterfront Development permit with New Jersey DEP
- Relocation of a municipally owned sanitary sewer and easement, which required a robust dewatering program given its depth below groundwater
- Relocation of 75-year-old water main under the proposed bridge, including design and permitting of a pile supported foundation.
- Subgrade improvement consisting of surcharge and structural fill
- The installation of rigid inclusions under the building pad to strengthen soft subsurface clays
- NJDOT approval/construction of a signalized interchange at Porete Avenue/Belleville Turnpike
- A structural bridge over a tidal stream for access to the Belleville Turnpike
- Dedication of land to the Borough and construction of a new public road to improve access to other properties in the Redevelopment Zone.
- Construction of an environmental cap and obtaining the closeout documentation from New Jersey DEP
The project was entitled and completed in just over two years.
I found Mr. Kiernan to be an extremely knowledgeable and competent individual, who obviously possessed the skills, expertise and experience to deal with the very difficult task of transforming the Bethlehem Steel site into a viable ratable and job producing reality. Developing property in the State of New Jersey is not for the faint of heart.