The historic old Bell Labs building in Holmdel, New Jersey, is being converted into a “metroburb,” a giant, indoor “Main Street” that will house stores, a food hall, and technology company offices.
In 2007, Alcatel-Lucent, the company that had taken over Bell Labs from AT&T, shut down operations at the 460-acre site. The question of what to do with the property within the wealthy suburban community lingered for years, after one plan to demolish the building to build housing was shot down. That’s because the Eero Saarinen-designed structure, once described as the “biggest mirror ever,” was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and demolition became unthinkable.
There were no takers for the 2 million sf structure until Ralph Zucker, and his development company, Somerset Development, conceived of the repurposing of the structure into a mixed-use property. It took five years for the town to grant final approval for the purchase, and to have the building rezoned as mixed-use.
There was initial resistance to the plan, but the town has largely embraced the development in the intervening years. The project could become an exemplar for other communities who have giant former corporate headquarters that have outlived their original purpose.
Related Stories
| Jul 16, 2012
Business school goes for maximum vision, transparency, and safety with fire rated glass
Architects were able to create a 2-hour exit enclosure/stairwell that provided vision and maximum fire safety using fire rated glazing that seamlessly matched the look of other non-rated glazing systems.
| Jul 12, 2012
Federal budget chief to explain impact of pending defense cuts before Congress
Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients is scheduled to testify before the House Armed Services Committee Aug. 1 to explain the possible effects of $500 billion in defense cuts on U.S. companies, including those in the design and construction industry.
| Jul 12, 2012
Pennsylvania legislature moves to prevent undocumented workers on public construction projects
Legislation to prevent undocumented workers from being hired by construction companies working on state-funded projects passed the Pennsylvania Legislature.
| Jul 12, 2012
New York’s One Bryant Park Bank of America tower is first new high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum
The new One Bryant Park Bank of America tower in midtown Manhattan is the first new commercial high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
| Jul 12, 2012
OSHA launches campaign to prevent heat illness
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched its 2012 Heat Illness Prevention Campaign to educate employees and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in heat, and how to prevent heat-related illnesses.
| Jul 12, 2012
Contractors have increasing concerns over new federal hiring quotas
A proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to increase disabled- and veteran-worker hiring quotas for federal contractors continues to raise deep concerns among contractors.
| Jul 5, 2012
Veterans Administration threatens to pull contract on new Orlando medical center
The Veterans Administration asked contractor Brasfield & Gorrie to get more workers on the job and figure out a way to get the job done faster, or the VA would pull the contract on the much-delayed Orlando VA Medical Center.
| Jul 5, 2012
Cost to contractors for new federal hiring quotas much higher than estimated, AGC says
Administration officials significantly underestimated the cost to construction employers of proposed new hiring quotas for federal contractors, according to analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Jul 5, 2012
Roof membrane could have prevented roof parking deck collapse, specialist says
The collapse of a section of a roof parking deck at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake in Ontario, Canada could have been prevented if the structure had a membrane, according to a concrete expert and specialist in structure analysis at McMaster University.