Brick Township is being Sued for Terminating Contract to Redevelop former Foodtown Site

M&M at Route 70, LLC, is suing Brick Township for terminating its contract to redevelop the former Foodtown site, municipal officials announced this week.

M&M filed the lawsuit December 3 in Ocean County Superior Court in response to the Township issuing a notice of default in September and is seeking to remain the Redeveloper of the site. The Township cited the company's failure to pay a deposit that was due when the agreement was signed in 2009, under Brick's former governing body.

"We've been for six years. Nothing has happened. We're not waiting any longer. We're moving on," said Brick Mayor John Ducey.

Ducey is hoping a judge sides with the Township and dismisses the suit.

"In the meantime we've actually been paying about $465,000 a year just to pay for the property. We've paid $3.9 million for the property to date and still haven't paid the property off," noted Ducey.

Despite the litigation, the Township plans on hearing from other Redevelopers about other potential projects, according to Ducey.

The Mayor said the original contract required a hotel to built on the property, but M&M has never been willing to do that.

"In fact, he [M&M] paid for a study that said a hotel would not be financially feasible, which we just came to learn makes absolutely no sense since Marriott is building a hotel less than a half-mile from the site," Ducey pointed out.

In its lawsuit, M&M blames the Township for the lack of progress on the site and accuses it of not obtaining a permit from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) needed to move foward, according to patch.com.

The Patch reports M&M claims in the suit that it demolished the old Foodtown building at its own expense and sent a $100,000 deposit to the Township in October along with a letter stating it remained committed to the project, but has not received a response.

Ducey said the Township wants to see the property developed as soon as possible to get something back on the tax rolls and added several ideas have been mentioned throughout the years, including some type of athletic facility or some type of store.

"We did reach out to Wegmans after the contract was terminated and found out they're not willing to come to Brick because it's not a large enough piece of property for them," added Ducey.