Board gives go-ahead to Sabert headquarters Manufacturer to build on Main St. Extension near waterfront BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer SAYREVILLE - A plan for a plastic packaging manufacturer to build its world headquarters in the borough has the borough's seal of approval. Sabert Corp., which already operates a plant in the borough, has received final Planning Board approval to build a warehouse and headquarters in the borough's waterfront area. The $6 million world headquarters will be built near the Conrail railroad tracks and across the street from the Middlesex County Utilities Authority on Main Street Extension. The board's unanimous decision is expected to be memorialized at its July 18 meeting. Sabert bought the 12-acre property in April for $1,884,000 from the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA), which designated the company as the redeveloper of the site in 2005. SERA, which also received $65,940 from Sabert for facilitating the transaction, had purchased the land from the Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA). Sabert also has facilities in Europe, China, California and Kentucky, according to Burton D. Schaeffer, director of purchasing for Sabert Corp. He told the Planning Board that the company was founded in New York City in 1982 and relocated to Sayreville seven years later. Construction on the Sayreville headquarters, which will also serve as a research and development center, is expected to begin this year. It will be 171,860 square feet in size, with 100,680 square feet of distribution and warehouse space and 45,580 square feet of office space. The company will continue to operate its existing facility at Main Street and Crossman Road for manufacturing purposes. However, all administrative and executive functions will be housed in the two-story headquarters on Main Street Extension, which will include a training center, 16 loading docks and 212 parking spaces. The hours of operation at Sabert's new headquarters will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Schaeffer said. Mayor Kennedy O'Brien addressed the board before it considered the plan during the June 20 meeting, saying that the borough-based company has been a significant benefit to the community since it began operations there in 1989. "Sabert is one of the finest corporate residents any town can have," O'Brien said. Sabert manufactures plastic food-packaging products for food service distribution, supermarkets and other markets that include large chain stores such as Costco, Sysco Food Services and Applebee's. Borough Council members have lauded the company for deciding to stay in the borough, which is expected to receive significant tax revenue from the corporation when the new facility is operational.