Holmdel Township
Pro-Data Center Policies
Holmdel Township permits a data center near the existing maintenance building, subject to site-development requirements, and offers a 30-year tax exemption on project improvements.
Incentives
Tax benefits
The accompanying 2014 financial agreement grants a project-specific long-term tax exemption on redevelopment improvements, with annual service charges in lieu of property taxes; this is an actual grant, not merely redevelopment eligibility. Approval of a long term tax exemption is granted.
current law · Holmdel TownshipThe Bell Works/Alcatel-Lucent redevelopment framework listed data centers as a permitted use within the designated redevelopment area.Holmdel Township Alcatel-Lucent Redevelopment Plan and Redevelopment Agreement (2012/2014)
What this means
The plan allows a data center, but only in the general footprint of the existing maintenance building and subject to site-development requirements (“A data center and/or a health club facility are permitted”). The redevelopment agreement also offers a 30-year tax exemption on project improvements (“for a term of thirty (30) years”); together, that is a meaningful benefit, though the location limit and requirements temper it.
People behind it
- Holmdel Township Committee
Designated the property as an area in need of redevelopment and introduced and adopted Ordinance No. 2012-12 approving the Redevelopment Plan.
- Holmdel Township Planning Board
Conducted the public hearing, recommended designation of the property as a redevelopment area, and authorized preparation of the Redevelopment Plan.
- CME Associates
Prepared the Alcatel-Lucent Redevelopment Plan for Holmdel Township.
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- Jennifer C. Beahm, PP, AICP
Identified preparer of the Alcatel-Lucent Redevelopment Plan and the Planning Board's professional planner who undertook the redevelopment study.
- Township of Holmdel
Redevelopment entity and contracting party that administered the redevelopment and financial agreements.
- Somerset Holmdel Development I, L.P.
Designated redeveloper and contracting party responsible for undertaking the redevelopment project.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements13
A data center is permitted only within the general footprint of the existing maintenance building; the provision does not authorize data centers elsewhere on the redevelopment site.
All development, including a data center, requires Planning Board approval through the applicable site-plan and subdivision procedures.
The Planning Board may grant deviations from redevelopment-plan standards but may not authorize a use that is not permitted by the plan; deviations that would require a use variance must be handled by amending the plan.
Data-center development must comply with environmental restrictions, including applicable buffers for Category 1 waterways and wetlands and permits required by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
A data-center application must include a detailed traffic statement addressing roadway capacity, access points, signalization, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, parking, and loading.
Utilities for development must generally be installed underground, and stormwater systems must preserve natural drainage, prevent flooding or overloading of existing drainage systems, and comply with Township stormwater requirements.
Public sanitary sewer service for the data center may be extended, but the plan does not guarantee that extension; obtaining adequate utility service is therefore a project requirement.
Development must satisfy site-design requirements covering parking and loading, pedestrian access, landscaped buffers around surface parking, screening of service functions, and separation of loading and delivery vehicles from customer parking and pedestrian areas.
The redevelopment agreement requires the project to be constructed, used, owned, managed, and controlled in accordance with the redevelopment plan and the agreement; noncompliance can constitute a default.
The project must obtain certificates of occupancy, and failure to make best efforts to obtain and file them can subject the property to full taxation.
The tax exemption is conditioned on payment of an annual service charge, land taxes, and a two-percent administrative fee based on the prior year's service charge; these payments are material conditions of the agreement.
The entity must submit annual audited financial statements and project-cost audits, and must permit Township or State inspection and examination of its property, records, books, and contracts during the exemption period.
The tax exemption lasts 30 years from substantial completion, subject to a maximum of 35 years from execution of the financial agreement, and can be terminated for default, after which the project becomes subject to full taxation.
Benefits & exceptionsHide benefits & exceptions8
Data centers are expressly permitted in the general footprint of the existing maintenance building, and public sanitary sewer service may be extended to the facility. (data center and/or a health club facility are permitted)
After a redeveloper closes on the property, the Redevelopment Plan supersedes the Township's ordinary use and bulk regulations for the area, improving regulatory certainty for the project. (this Redevelopment Plan will supersede the use and bulk provisions)
The Planning Board may grant deviations from Redevelopment Plan regulations when the plan's purposes would be advanced and the benefits outweigh detriments; it may also grant reasonable design-standard exceptions or waivers when literal compliance is impracticable or creates undue hardship. Deviations cannot authorize a use prohibited by the Plan and require public notice. (may grant a deviation from the regulations)
Improvements constructed as part of the qualifying project receive a property-tax exemption for 30 years beginning at substantial completion, subject to compliance with the tax-exemption law and Agreement, with an absolute maximum of 35 years from execution of the Agreement. (all Improvements made in the redevelopment of the Property shall be exempt from taxation)
In place of ordinary taxes on improvements, the urban renewal entity pays an annual service charge calculated as the greatest of a percentage of annual gross revenue, a statutory staged tax amount, or the minimum annual service charge. (the ASC shall be equal to the greater of)
The entity receives a credit against the annual service charge for qualifying land taxes paid on the property, subject to making the required land-tax payments and to phase-specific allocation rules where applicable. (entitled to a credit against the ASC)
Utilities must be installed underground, and renewable-energy facilities such as solar panels may be installed over parking areas or on building roofs as an accessory use, allowing onsite power generation. (Renewable energy resources)
The tax exemption can continue after an approved transfer of the project to another eligible urban renewal entity, provided the transferee assumes the Agreement's obligations and statutory requirements are satisfied. (the tax exemption granted under this Agreement shall continue)
Sources
current law · Holmdel TownshipHolmdel's August 11, 2026 minutes record final adoption of Ordinance 2026-16, Establishing Data Centers as Prohibited Use.Holmdel Township Ordinance 2026-16 (2026)
People behind it
- Brian Foster
Moved final adoption; adoption minutes.
- Joseph Romano
Seconded final adoption; adoption minutes.
- Michael Collins
Township attorney; explained the Time of Application rule.
Restrictions & requirementsHide restrictions & requirements2
Establishes data centers as a prohibited use.
Counsel specified inclusion of a severability clause at introduction; final wording unverified.
Sources
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