Standing Pat

Ms. Pat Russo
Chief Executive Officer
Alcatel-Lucent
54 rue la Boetie
Paris 75008, France

Dear Pat,

Happy holidays. I hope those French lessons are going well.

Sorry to bother you while you're spending all your time these days trying to save your company (and your job), but there is this little matter about a vacant building that used to employ some of the world's greatest research scientists and engineers.

You may have heard recently that Preferred Real Estate said au revoir and pulled out of a deal to purchase your property in Holmdel. Seems it ran into a little snag when it thought it could convince residents that it would be a good idea to put hundreds of a new homes there.

I hope you won't consider me too presumptuous if I offer a few thoughts, just in case you are still in the market for selling this 500-acre site. I'd hate to see you make the same mistakes twice.

I think you should know that most Holmdel residents would welcome new commercial development on the site. You should have seen the smiles over at the tax office back in the old days when they got ready to mail out your quarterly property tax bill.

At the same time, we have gotten used to the quality of life around here, and so you might want to share with any prospective buyers that we aren't too keen about changing existing zoning to allow the addition of any major housing developments on the site.

You probably understand how you can get used to things. Why, after a year or so of French cuisine, I bet those blue plate specials at your favorite New Jersey dinner have lost their allure.

How about taking the time to see how much it might cost to rehabilitate the old Labs building, so that it can house multiple business tenants? In a marketplace filled with other vacant buildings, wouldn't it make sense to preserve an existing asset with such strong brand equity, because of its technological and historical heritage?

I'm certain that if Alcatel-Lucent can do its part to help encourage new commercial development on the site, the Township Committee would show its gratitude by moving our annual community celebration to Bastille Day.

Joyeux Noel.

Friday on My Mind

On the surface, Holmdel has probably seen better Fridays than the one that played out last week. In a hard fought contest, the Holmdel Hornets lost its semi-final match up with Rumson-Fair Haven, and earlier in the day, a spokesperson with Alcatel-Lucent confirmed that Preferred Real Estate had failed to close on its deal to purchase the old Bell Labs site in town.

However, the Holmdel Hornets did offer some interesting lessons for all of us to ponder. They had a magical season. No one would have predicted nine straight wins, but all the signs were in the place for success after the team's strong finish last year.

The Hornets reminded us that with planning, execution, and the right group of people great things can happen. And Holmdel residents do rally around those things they care about. A chilly fall night did not deter one of the largest crowds in memory to descend upon Roggy Field to watch the contest.

Our town leaders should keep both lessons in mind, as we consider our next steps regarding the future of the Lucent site.

I always saw this month's Township Committee race as a referendum for the future of the Lucent property, and apparently, Preferred Real Estate agreed with me. The make-up of next year's Township Committee will not be favorable for the zoning change they want, and so they walked.

They never really cared about the needs of the town, just their own.

So, on one hand, it's a win for the community, since it eliminates one source of angst that has been hanging over our heads for two years now--the potential of unneeded residential development that would have dramatically impacted the character of the town while failing to contribute sufficiently to our tax base.

However, it's a pyrrhic victory at best. The town would have been best served if the sale had gone through and that the property had been redeveloped by Preferred in compliance with the existing zoning of the office/lab use. The property has always been a large commercial ratable for our town and a delay in redeveloping it will only impede needed tax relief.

The town should communicate with representatives of Alcatel/Lucent directly, to reiterate our desire to retain existing zoning on the Lucent tract, our interest to retain the existing Saarinen-designed structure if possible and our willingness to work with them as they seek a replacement buyer for the property. These steps will help us avoid a repeat of our experience with Preferrred. The Lucent Advisory Committee may serve as a perfect conduit for this task.

It's a brand new ball game, and as the Hornets showed us repeatedly, you can control your own destiny when you show up to play.