Update: Somerset Developers Get Approval to Redevelop Former Anchor Glass Site

A hotel, movie theater and housing development along with the smokestacks–upon engineer inspection and approval–are apart of the redevelopment on the former Anchor Glass site.

At an Aberdeen Planning Board meeting Wednesday night, Somerset Development received preliminary and final site plan approval conditional upon review of the development plan timeline and submission of revisions to build 500 residential units and 75,000 square feet of retail space at the industrial site on Cliffwood Avenue.

The plans call for a 110-room hotel, a 220-seat movie theater, and retail space with residential units above. The remainder of the site would be residential units with a mix of townhouses and apartments and open space, including a two-acre Glassworks Park.

The residential component would consist of 190 townhouses, 55 townhouse rental units, 129 apartments and 16 multifamily units. Of the 500 units proposed, 110 would be designated as affordable housing units.

The first phase of redevelopment includes the demolition of the current buildings present and construction of 12,000 square feet in retail space, 23 townhouses and 51 apartments– 21 one-bedroom apartments, and 30 two-bedroom apartments. Six of those are two bedroom units with a den. The second phase includes the additional housing units, the hotel and theater.  

Traffic Engineer Karl Pehnke said the main point of access to the site will be at Avenue C and will have a traffic signal. Avenue C will be located across the street from the development at 82 Cliffwood Avenue and about a quarter mile away from the railroad tracks.

“This project during its full build will generate less traffic than the former site during morning peak hours,” Pehnke said. However, he noted an expected increase in traffic due to retail as well as the mixed-use of the site during evening and weekend hours.

Ralph Zucker, president of Somerset Development, said the building still needs to vacated, which he estimated will take a little over a year to do. The board previously denied the applicant’s request to phase out the building to start construction.

“We are going to start applying to permits as soon as possible,” Zucker said, indicating that permits were needed from Department of Transportation for the road improvements. Zucker estimated it will be about 18 months to two years before construction starts.

While concerns over the structural integrity and safety of the smoke stacks remain, Zucker assured the board that the stacks would be a great marketing tool as well as a memorial to the site’s previous use.  

“You need to have a sense of history, we feel, to make this place special,” Zucker said, adding the stacks will be closed and restored to make them look as they did when the factory opened. A maintenance plan would also be established if the smokestacks are found to be structurally safe for the site.

Another concern from the board was the lack of a timeline for the development the retail space. While there are no proposed tenants for the retail space, Zucker said the spaces are going to marketed as soon as possible with a possibility for the hotel to be built ahead of schedule if a vendor is found.

Mayor Fred Tagliarini emphasized that he did not want to see empty storefronts in Aberdeen.

“The number one goal we have to accomplish is to proceed with cleaning up this area to benefit all of Aberdeen,” said Mayor Fred Tagliarini.

Councilman Gregory Cannon, who spoke during public comment, said the manufacturing building has been rotting for the past 17 years and has become an eyesore.

“Everyone who can see that property from their backyard, [their] property’s value will go up,” Cannon said.