The Beesley’s Point Development Group bought the 350-acre industrial property at the northern tip of Upper Township in November 2021 with plans for developing it into something more suitable for its surroundings.
For nearly 60 years, the site was home to the B.L. England Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant.
Located along Great Egg Harbor Bay, the site has various types habit that are home to numerous species of plants and animals. There’s also a former nine-hole golf course. However, it has been the site of a coal-fired power plant with all of the negative effects that come along with that and in need of remediation.
The BPDG, which specializes in redeveloping at-risk sites, has grand plans for boosting the ecology of the site, which they hope in turn boosts the economy of the entire township.
The sale cleared the way for a proposal that may lead to construction of a hotel, marina, restaurants, retail shops and homes, but also a strong environmental education aspect with public access and interpretive signage.
The group consists of co-founder Chris Wilson, co-founder Tim Niedzwiecki, Executive Vice President of Real Estate and Development Chad Parks and Executive Vice President and Director of Economic Development David Kreutz.
Wilson moved to Upper Township from Long Island, N.Y., and Parks purchased a home in Marmora. Kreutz relocated from California to Ventnor, where Niedzwiecki often stays.
“We are permanent members of the community,” Wilson said.
The four primary owners each has distinct individual skills ranging from contracting and financing to environmental sustainability through government relations.
“Our skills as individuals range in focus and allow us to attack and control things in a very positive fashion, from analysis through site work,” Wilson said.
Chris Wilson
Wilson, the managing member, earned a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1991.
He is engaged, has three children and moved to the shore to make this his primary home after the property became the firm’s top objective.
He conceived the business model using an innovative solution for brownfield recovery and development as the building block for the company’s market approach.
Wilson’s expertise has been in complete re-zoning and redevelopment with a focus on power- and transportation-based properties. He has spent the bulk of his career returning obsolete, often abandoned sites to productive use and specializes in projects that require intimate municipal involvement from the beginning to be successful.
He has spent more than 20 years pioneering the industry of redeveloping heavy industrial properties with his firm ERS Investments. He has spent time developing specific sites for regional industrial and niche-based developments.
ERS acquired, reclaimed and redeveloped sites with industrial developers including Berkshire Development, Millennium Acquisitions and P&L Investments. These opportunistic acquisitions were based on each group’s predicated site type. Target property profiles included ground-up industrial, manufacturing and distribution development opportunities, brownfield redevelopment and new construction opportunities, underperforming assets and properties with below-market in-place rents. The concentration has been on industrial and environmentally impaired properties.
Wilson also has more than 20 years of experience in commercial real estate development and has an extensive history in the environmental field. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Mortgage Bankers Association, Environmental Assessment Association and Environmental Bankers Association, and has completed courses in environmental research and due diligence practices in the United States and England.
Wilson has years of technical and hands-on experience in both domestic and international business development in the environmental industry, as well as creating and managing a successful real estate research firm that revolutionized the information gathering process and changed the national standards for ESA reporting and information sources.
Tim Niedzwiecki
Niedzwiecki is co-founder of BPDG as well as owner of ERSI, a development, abatement and decommissioning contractor.
Niedzwiecki has grown ERSI into a strong national contracting firm and provides BPDG a complete backstop for all required site work for the Beesleys Point property.
Wilson said his attention to detail has led to numerous awards in the industry and he prides himself on completing projects that most companies hesitate to undertake.
Decommissioning and demolishing roads and bridges, power plants, high-rise structures, chemical facilities, hospitals and large-scale retail/office complexes are all areas in which ERSI excels, Wilson said.
He is married with two daughters and commutes from Syracuse, N.Y., often staying locally.
Chad Parks
Parks spent years managing projects in the contracting field before moving into real estate development. He applies his expertise in both fields to provide BPDG a unique advantage while advancing the property through entitlement.
His attention to detail and direct interaction with community directors continually increases goodwill with the municipal agencies at every level, Wilson said.
Parks is married with two school-age children and purchased a home in Upper Township minutes from the property.
He began his career in 2004 working for ERSI in upstate New York, from Albany to Rochester, with overall revenue of $5 million annually. Over the course of the ensuing 10 years, ERSI grew into a top demolition contractor nationally with offices in Boston, Houston and Los Angeles touting revenue of nearly $40 million annually with the best contractor safety rating in the industry, Wilson said.
Business development and client relationships were his primary focus, with oversight of the company coming after his promotion to vice president in 2015.
“Chad’s unique ability to understand client needs, end goals and critical path, while applying to the very front end of the project, was a key component to company growth,” Wilson said.
His forward-looking approach to business development continued in 2014, when he met Wilson who was seeking a venture partner to pursue liability transfer real estate opportunities.
David Kreutz
Kreutz, along with his wife and daughter, purchased a home in Ventnor so he could be close to the project. He is responsible for locating and negotiating local and state incentives as well as working with government agencies and community leaders to maximize future development potential.
His relationships in the business community are robust and span many sectors.
Kreutz has hands-on expertise in effecting best/intended use as well as the shaping of community understanding and opinions toward intended projects.
Wilson said his operation and management skills include both detailed community outreach and oversight of in-house legal issues.
He also is an avid birder and will be bringing his knowledge of that field to bear on the project, focusing on the return of native species at the site.
The company recently conducted a controlled burn to eradicate large swaths of phragmites reeds.