PATERSON — A developer with headquarters in New York City is planning to build a $35 million “Amazon-like” warehouse over a five-block section of Paterson’s 6th Ward, an operation that would include 53 loading docks for trucks.
The developer, Thor Equities, wants to demolish the massive industrial building that has stood on the 17-acre site at the corner of Getty and Madison avenues for more than eight decades and replace it with a smaller structure with more than 300 parking spaces.
The Paterson Planning Board voted in favor of the project Monday night, but city officials said the developer needs additional municipal approvals.
In recent years, the sprawling warehouse site has had businesses operating in some sections, while other parts have been dormant. Just a few years ago, Green Thumb Industries wanted to grow medical marijuana at the location, but those plans fell through.
Mayor Andre Sayegh said the Thor project would create 200 to 400 new jobs in the city. The mayor said Thor would be running an operation in the new facility that would be akin to Amazon warehouses.
“I always wanted one of those for Paterson,” Sayegh said.
Thor is in the process of acquiring the property, which is assessed at $25.9 million, according to city tax records, from Alma Realty, one of Paterson’s biggest real estate investors.
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Alma — which is based in Queens — also owns the Center City Mall, the three Riverview Towers high-rise apartment buildings and various properties in downtown Paterson that have been converted to housing, including the former Fabian Theatre site. Alma said it is not looking to sell its other Paterson properties.
“Any type of development in the city is pivotable for ratables, safe streets and clean environment,” said Ruben Gomez of Alma when asked about the pending sale to Thor. “The residents deserve good-paying jobs.”
Paterson’s economic development director, Michael Powell, said the Getty Avenue property — once home to the Continental Can factory, where tin cans were made — is one of the largest redevelopment sites in the city.
“There’s such an insatiable demand for quality industrial space, so to be able to revitalize this five-block area is really good news,” Powell said.
Some council members asked about truck traffic at the redeveloped site. The developer’s experts said the new proposal would have trucks coming onto the property from West Railway Avenue, parking at off-street loading zones and leaving through Thomas Street and Getty Avenue.
At present, officials said, some of the loading docks directly face city streets and cause traffic problems when trucks back into them. That would end with the new configuration.
None of the residents in the area spoke about the project during the Planning Board meeting. Councilman Al Abdelaziz, who represents the 6th Ward, where the warehouse would be, expressed his support for the plans.
“I think this is a huge win for that area, a huge win for South Paterson and a huge win for the city,” he said.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
