DELAYED DAIBES DEVELOPMENT EXPECTS COMPLETION IN 2014

Groundbreaking on the project in Jan. 2013

The troubled Daibes development project at the corner of Springfield Avenue and Burnet Street is expected to be completed by the end of 2014, with a roof and framing in place by the end of August, developers told the Township Committee Tuesday night.

The retail-housing unit project, which has been plagued by delays since it was first announced, was delayed again in recent weeks, developers told the TC, due to an environmental clean-up of a former gas tank area.

One of the developers said delays had occurred due to an “environmental concern that required some engineering with regard to an area where there was a tank at one point in time.”

But they added that the property had been cleaned and was awaiting state DEP approval.

Mayor Vic DeLuca, who had been critical of the development in the past when it was delayed in obtaining certain permits, said the Township had received a letter on Tuesday from the developers indicating cement would begin being poured this week.

He asked the developers to return on Sept. 16 for a status update.

When the developer’s attorney asked if they could skip that meeting if everything was going as planned, the mayor suggested that would be possible, but only if the project was clearly on target.

“If we feel there’s no questions we can cancel the appearance,” the mayor said. “If we see it up in the air, we see it there, we see a roof there, we see things happening then we can chill out; honestly, we have to keep this project on a short leash.”