As many as 10 surface-to-air missiles sat underground on nearly 19 acres in East Hanover, ready to be lifted by elevator to launch at Russian aircraft carrying nuclear bombs aimed at metro New York.
The Cold War Nike missile site operated from 1954 to 1974 before it was abandoned and later owned by the Township, which took it over around 1986.
After failed attempts to develop the site with new residences – including a joint venture with Bergen County United Way – the Morris County community will sell the land to developer EH-Nike LLC to build six four-story apartment buildings with a total of 288 age-restricted, one- and two-bedroom units, including 59 affordable apartments. An 11,000-square-foot clubhouse also is planned.
The East Hanover Land Use/Planning Board unanimously approved the project on May 26 and memorialized a resolution giving it the go-ahead on June 23.
When complete, the project will have come a long way from the widespread public fears of nuclear obliteration in the 1950s and 1960s that gave rise to the East Hanover Nike base and others.
“Plans for the defense of the New York region called for the construction of nearly two dozen Nike missile sites within the adjacent states of New York and New Jersey,” according to a 1997 article by Nike historian Donald E. Bender that appeared in a Morris County Heritage Commission publication. “Nike” was the name of the missiles, and they were guided by radar designed by Bell Laboratories.
The missile battery control facility was located about three miles away in Livingston, Bender wrote.
Military members were housed at barracks on the site or in 30 small houses next to the missile battery on the acreage. The houses were demolished around 2003, according to the developer’s documents.
In May, the only public testimony about the plan, according to the board resolution, was from a neighbor who asked about the route construction trucks would take as the project was being built.
Developer EH-Nike LLC is based on Microlab Road in Livingston and is primarily owned by Larry Pantirer, David Pantirer, Marc Pantirer, Howard Schwartz, Jonathan Schwartz and Alan Pines, according to the application.
The 498,380-square-foot apartment complex has no street address yet, but it will front on 650 feet of Nike Drive.
Amenities besides the clubhouse will include a pool, pickleball courts, dog park, outdoor amenity areas and parking garages, according to the developer’s documents.
