Located just a 10-minute walk from NJ TRANSIT’s Bound Brook train station, South Bound Brook’s downtown is recovering from its recent legacy of industrial abandonment thanks to transit-oriented development. For the past 30 years, South Bound Brook’s town center was dominated by the abandoned hulk of the GAF Corporation plant where roofing materials had been produced for 90 years until 1984. Redevelopment of this abandoned industrial site has taken a long time. Site remediation finally began in 2003 and construction of a new mixed-use development began just over a year ago.
But today, the new Canal Crossing development rises from the 11-acre site. Composed of 152 two- and three-bedroom condominiums and commercial/retail buildings, the innovative project by Matzel & Mumford (a K. Hovnanian company) is nearing completion with 111 units already sold. Sales have been lively from the onset with strong interest from young professionals as well as from older people looking to scale down from larger, suburban homes. Commuters planning to walk to the Bound Brook station, served by NJ TRANSIT’s Raritan Valley Line, have been particularly keen on units with the quickest access to the crossing. In addition, with a refurbished pedestrian bridge, the redeveloped site will restore public access to the Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, a linear park along the Raritan River featuring a walking trail on the former towpath which connected New Brunswick and Trenton.
Along with this monumental change in land use at the heart of their community, residents of South Bound Brook are also enjoying recent downtown improvements that feature new street lighting, sidewalks, decorative pavers, and benches.