Worried about Fort Monmouth

From the Philly Inquirer:

For sale: One U.S. Army base, well used

For sale: 1,100 acres with office buildings, townhouses, 20-lane bowling alley and 18-hole golf course. Fitness center with indoor pool, strip mall and 600-seat chapel also available to the right bidders.

Not interested? Perhaps, high-tech laboratories, a day-care center and a 74-slip marina by the Shrewsbury River could tempt a buyer as the Army looks to sell its property at Fort Monmouth.

Forced to leave by 2011 as part of the Pentagon’s base-closing plan, the military is casting its net to draw developers to the property. Much of it must be sold at full market value, but it can be divided into parcels. Local governments and nonprofits can apply for land and structures at reduced prices.

The fort has several hundred apartments, which might appeal to neighboring towns looking for affordable housing, said Col. Ricki L. Sullivan, the garrison commander.

“You have to think, what are the needs of the community?” Sullivan said yesterday as he escorted a group of reporters on a tour of the base.

The tour was the first of about eight scheduled by the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority, created by the state in April to oversee redevelopment. Other tours will be for developers, social-service groups and colleges.

The fort lies along one of the Jersey Shore’s commercial corridors, Route 35, where some real estate is estimated to be worth $1 million an acre. Three towns have territory within base boundaries – Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls – and several of their neighborhoods abut Army fences.

Besides the land, the state is also worried about restoring the jobs and revenue created by the fort, whose 5,500-person payroll approaches $500 million. Its overall economic impact is estimated at $2.5 billion annually by the state Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission. That includes money spent locally by workers, and support jobs that involve about 22,000 people.