RWJBarnabas closes $8M Fort Monmouth deal, Tinton Falls health campus coming

TINTON FALLS - After more than four years of negotiations, RWJBarnabas Health, parent company of nearby Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, has closed on the sale of the former Myer Center on the old Fort Monmouth grounds.

The total sale price was about $8 million for the massive Cold War-era facility known colloquially as the "Hexagon" for its geometric shape and likeness to the Pentagon, though its sixth side was never completed. Monmouth Medical Center could now spend upwards of $650 million on a new health campus.

Monmouth Medical Center's first plan, or phase one, is to build a full-scale health care campus, including a roughly 138,000-square-foot Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care Pavilion, offering oncology services, imaging, radiation and ambulatory surgery center. Construction should begin next year.

The plans for a second phase of construction have not formally been laid out yet. Monmouth Medical Center has the discretion to base its future plans for the site on upon market demand and the needs of the surrounding community.

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That may include hospital services, clinical and support facilities, and a medical office, along with walking trails and publicly accessible open space, according to the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority, the state agency in charge of redeveloping Fort Monmouth.

FMERA said Monmouth Medical Center will create over 300 jobs during phase one and may create a total of 1,000 jobs following the completion of phase two. The minimum capital investment for the project is $153.5 million but may exceed $650 million upon completion of both phases.

Monmouth Medical Center got a major financial burst for the new medical campus when Colts Neck philanthropists Sheldon and Anne Vogel announced in 2020 they would donate $50 million to its development. The Vogels were born at what was then Monmouth Memorial Hospital. Sheldon Vogel went on to become controller and chief financial officer at Atlantic Records.

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The 36-acre parcel was formally home to the 750,000-square-foot Myer Center and the Night Vision Lab. The Myer Center was the former home of the Army’s Electronics Command. However, following the closing of Fort Monmouth and subsequent redevelopment of the base, it proved to be a stubborn property to sell due to the age, size and construction of the building.

FMERA said it had garnered little interest in the building.

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In 2017, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority stepped in and agreed to acquire the site and fund the abatement and demolition of the facility, recognizing the increased marketability and redevelopment potential of a vacant parcel.

A year later RWJBarnabas Health made an unsolicited offer to NJEDA to purchase the site. RWJBarnabas Health and FMERA entered into a redevelopment agreement on Oct. 25 of last year, which was then assigned to Monmouth Medical Center this year.

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“This state-of-the-art project will provide expanded access to exceptional care and offer important health education and wellness services for the entire community,” said FMERA Executive Director Kara Kopach.  “MMC’s decision to offer world-class cancer care in Tinton Falls is game changing. Not only will residents benefit from convenient access to critical services, healthcare providers and their support professionals will also reap the benefits of increased job opportunities in the region.”

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When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: RWJBarnabas Health closes $8M deal for Fort Monmouth Tinton Falls site