This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Living at Greystone? The Plot Develops

Can you see people paying $2,500 a month to rent an apartment at the former Greystone administration building? Me neither. But never underestimate a developer. We shouldn't go down that road.

Early in April, I wrote about something I'd read in the Star-Ledger about the old Greystone hospital adminstration building, Kirkbride. 

The article said a preliminary finding of a report on how much it would cost to renovate the venerable stone building - the wonder of its day for its sheer size and bulk - showed there was no  “economically sustainable” way to save it.

Simply, it would cost too much to fix it up, between $110 million and $125 million, according to the article. It would cost "only" $11 million to clean and seal the building.

Find out what's happening in Morris Township-Morris Plainswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, the state of New Jersey said it would solicit proposals from private developers, a move applauded by the groups that would like to keep the building standing, according to the newspaper, "as a 'multi-use facility' that could include a mental health museum, shops, condominiums and government offices."

As I walked around what has become the Central Park of Morris County (on the former Greystone mental hospital land bought by the county for $1), I wondered why on Earth anyone would even consider putting condos in Kirkbride.

Find out what's happening in Morris Township-Morris Plainswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Turns out I underestimated private developers. 

According to an April 15 article in the Star-Ledger, the state put out its 108-page report on the different scenarios for the future of Kirkbride. Here they are:

Historic rehabilitation for 315 apartments, with rents of $1,500 to $2,500 a month.

Historic rehabilitation for 199 larger apartments that could be converted to condominiums, which would each lose an estimated $11.9 million.

Historic rehabilitation for a mixed-use facility including assisted living, office space and a bed-and-breakfast, which would lose an estimated $25.75 million. 

Subsequently, the lead consultant on the study the state used for its estimates heard there was “'some interest' by developers in upscale apartments, based on 'the magnitude of the project' and its historic aspect," according to the Star-Ledger.

Someone smelled money to be made.

Let's talk candidly here. Morris County has been spending a lot of time and energy and lots of taxpayer dollars to tear down the former hospital wards, open up the space, add rinks and cross-country running paths and cut down half a forest to put in ballfields. The county wanted a park and now it has one.

So the first thing you have to ask yourself is, do you want to pay $2,500 a month for an apartment with a view of baseball fields with very large, powerful and bright lights beaming into your windows on a summer night? Do you want to be kept up late hearing the cheering? 

And what about all those people coming to the games, parking on Central Avenue right outside your front door, wandering around?

This brings me to my second point. There is exactly ONE bus route that goes to the Kirkbride building. You can see the bus stop in my picture.

That is IT for public transport. The closest train station is miles away in downtown Morris Plains. 

So if you are going to move out to a $2,500-a-month apartment at Kirkbride, you MUST bring a car, and likely you'll have at least one person with you who will also need a car.

Can you see more cars trying to squeeze into the already squeezed parking lot at the Morris Plains train station? Me, neither. It'll be Hit the Road, Jack.

Back at Kirkbride, where will those cars park? I fear the fields on the state land behind Kirkbride will be ripped up and paved over for parking lots. Perhaps the tenants and their children will also want their own swimming pool, playground or other facility - fenced in for their protection and privacy, of course. 

Put aside the ecological destruction. Think of more cars cruising down Central Avenue through the neighborhoods of Morris Plains at rush hour.

It is human nature that if you are going to pay a lot of money to rent or own an apartment, you want your money's worth -- and you complain when you don't feel you're getting it. 

You're not going to want to move into a place in the middle of nowhere unless you have a place to park your car, easily get on and off the road and get the peace and quiet and security you deserve.

The developer will start calling the shots on the way the park is operated, including its hours. Do you want that, Mr. or Ms. Taxpayer?

We know developers are creative in getting what they want. Morris Plains is in a battle with the developer of the old Pfizer buildings on Route 53. The developer bought the land with plans to put in 500 apartments, condominiums and townhouses plus about 100,000 square feet of retail space, according to the borough website. The borough asked for changes The developer is suing, claiming the borough is shirking its affordable housing requirement.

Nearby Parsippany, where Kirkbride and the park are located, once approved what I call the Scar on Watnong Mountain, but is officially called Powder Mill Heights. It a multi-story apartment building atop a multi-story parking garage. It is an eyesore you can see for miles around, degrading the mountain it sits upon.

More recently, Parsippany approved a developer's plan to put a Whole Foods, another retailer and 72 upscale townhouses on 26 acres of the undeveloped land currently zoned for office space. Nearby residents complained. Parsippany started to reconsider. The developer threatened to change the proposal to 530 rental apartments, designating 20% of them as affordable housing, which the developer said would force the zoning board to approve the plan because of its "beneficial nature."

Parsippany said, don't threaten us. 

Truly, some ugly things can happen when a town decides it needs to "develop" an area because it needs tax ratables. It opens a Pandora's box and triggers the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Must we cut down all the woods in Morris County? How many more people do you want on our roads and clammoring for services that will cost all of us in some way, such as more crowded classrooms?  

I say, don't go down that road with Kirkbride.

Last year I wrote that the building should be pulled down and the space used for hiking and birdwatching. This year I would rather pay the $11 million to seal up the building while still using the space behind as I suggested.

Unlike the Kuser mansion at High Point State Park - a distinguished old building owned by the millionaire who donated the land for the park - that the state allowed to deteriorate so badly it had to be pulled down in 1995, Kirkbride's thick stone walls guarantee the building will withstand anything. It's already withstood being empty for about eight years, since Gov. Christie Whitman ordered Greystone shut down and a more modern facility built on a smaller parcel at the western edge of the state property.

Right now the only things living in Kirkbride are birds and ghosts. Leave them alone. Leave Central Park of Morris County alone. Leave Kirkbride alone.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?