Boro lauds Sabert plan to build headquarters
Manufacturer to pay boro, county agencies for land near waterfront
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

SAYREVILLE - Sabert Corp. has signed a redevelopment agreement with the borough for a $6 million research and development center that will serve as the company's world headquarters.

The manufacturer of food packaging solutions, which started its operations in Sayreville in 1989, will operate the new headquarters near the borough's waterfront while continuing to maintain its current facility at Main Street and Crossman Road.

The existing facility has been expanded three times and now comprises 250,000 square feet, but after 10 years of major sales growth, the company, which also has manufacturing plants overseas, has outgrown the space, officials said.

The new headquarters will be located on a 12-acre tract along the Main Street Extension. The land is currently owned by the Middlesex County Utilities Authority [MCUA]. The headquarters is slated to be 167,000 square feet in size, with 50,000 square feet of office space and additional space for research, development and distribution.

Borough officials lauded the project as one that will bring new jobs and more tax revenue to the town.

"We are all very proud that a growing company like Sabert has chosen Sayreville for their world headquarters," Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA) Chairwoman Christine Spezzi said in a press release from her agency. "Their success is Sayreville's success."

Sabert will purchase the property for $1,884,000 in the agreement the company reached with SERA and the MCUA. The three parties signed real estate agreements Jan. 29, according to SERA Executive Director Randy Corman.

MCUA did not want to sell the property, which it considered surplus, directly to a private buyer, Corman said. Therefore, it will sell the property to SERA, which is a public agency, for its appraised value. SERA will then transfer the property to Sabert.

Under the redevelopment agreement, Sabert will also pay SERA $65,940 for the agency's role in facilitating the transaction. The payment represents 3.5 percent of the purchase price.

Sayreville Councilman and SERA Commissioner Dennis Grobelny said Sabert will provide a good, clean tax ratable for the borough.

"If they were just building 167,000 square feet of warehouse space, we could look forward to about $132,000 in property taxes," Grobelny said in a SERA press release. "With corporate offices and research and development involved, the tax revenues should be significantly higher."

Council President Thomas Pollando said Monday that Sabert "will move Sayreville forward."

"This is great news," Pollando said. "The Borough Council wants all of our boards to move Sayreville forward and I'm happy to see that SERA has stepped up to the plate in cooperation with the MCUA with an excellent project."

Pollando also wrote in his statement that the Sabert project was the kind of development that the council wants to attract.

"They will bring us significant tax revenue, yet there will be no burden on local services or the school system," Pollando said. "Furthermore, a research and development center will provide our town with upscale jobs that will help the local economy."