Planning board recommends ‘area in need of redevelopment’ designation for former BMW office at 300 Chestnut Ridge Road

The Woodcliff Lake Planning Board on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend that the former BMW office complex at 300 Chestnut Ridge Road be designated an area in need of redevelopment, forwarding the study and recommendation to the borough’s governing body for a final decision.

Dan Hin, a senior project planner at DMR Architects, told the board the 260,000-square-foot office—identified in the report as Block 601, Lot 1—has been “significantly underutilized since [the] COVID-19 epidemic” and that major building systems are nearing or past their useful life. “It sets the foundation for … a redevelopment plan,” Hin said, adding that such a plan is often what he calls “fancy zoning” that lets a municipality better guide future uses.

Hin said the building was roughly 60% occupied after 2020 and that the property’s specialized layout—data rooms, heavy electrical switchgear and other tenant-specific systems—limits conversion to multi-tenant office space. Engineers’ assessments cited by DMR and attached reports show deteriorating chillers, HVAC systems and a parking garage that would require multi-million-dollar repairs.

The planner walked the board through cost examples included in supplemental materials: roughly $3.7 million noted for garage repairs, about $1.2 million per air-handler (11 units cited), and prior chiller quotes in the $8 million–$10 million range. Hin said those figures support the report’s conclusion that the site meets statutory criterion A for designation because the buildings are obsolete or substandard and not “wholesome” for working conditions.

Board members questioned building size, historic use and whether the structure could be reconfigured for new tenants; Hin confirmed the square footage and repeated that the building’s design and system costs would make renovation burdensome.

On a motion to recommend designation, the board recorded a unanimous vote in favor; the board’s recommendation will be transmitted to the governing body, which makes the final decision on redevelopment designation and any subsequent redevelopment plan. The study and recommendation were prepared under the authorizing resolution (24-311), and Hin emphasized the work was completed “without condemnation,” meaning property acquisition is not part of the recommendation.

The governing body will determine next steps, including whether to adopt a redevelopment plan, request additional studies or solicit development proposals. The board’s action was procedural: it recommended designation based on the planner’s findings; it did not adopt a redevelopment plan or change zoning.

Provenance: Topic introduced in the meeting’s agenda and presentation by the planner, SEG 056–069 and SEG 070–099; key findings and costs detailed SEG 262–301 and SEG 448–476; motion and vote recorded SEG 511–533.

Authorities: Local redevelopment process and statutory criteria cited in the presentation (referenced generically as state statutory criteria and the local resolution authorizing the study).