EMERSON—The Borough Council voted 5-0 on Sept. 2 to revoke the designation of Emerson Redevelopers Urban Renewal (ERUR) as the borough’s redeveloper for the long-delayed central business district project. The action follows a July 31 Notice of Default that gave ERUR 30 days to respond—time that has since lapsed without action.
Borough attorney John McCann said the redeveloper was directed to address multiple defaults but failed to do so. “The defaults are many in the agreement, regardless of what their position is,” he told officials.
McCann noted ERUR has made “zero” good-faith effort to provide required documentation on seven offsite affordable housing units, an issue that has been a major point of contention. Instead, he said, the redeveloper only sought a meeting with the court regarding previously resolved litigation—“outside the scope” of the borough’s demands.
In recent weeks the borough filed both a notice of default and a notice of termination against ERUR, citing unpaid property taxes and failure to complete the Emerson Station mixed-use redevelopment on Kinderkamack between Lincoln and Linwood. McCann said those actions could be precursors to condemnation. [See “On fizzled, eyesore Block 419 project, ‘everything is on the table,’” posted Aug. 29, 2025, by Michael Olohan.]
“From a legal perspective, they have been put on notice. There is no ability to ‘cure’ the termination because they were terminated for two purposes,” McCann said Aug. 19. “We are well past the time period they had to construct the project.”
Next steps
Borough officials said the revocation marks a turning point for the long-stalled project, though the site’s future remains uncertain. With default and termination notices already filed, the next steps could include legal proceedings, the pursuit of a new redeveloper, or other remedies under state redevelopment law. For now, officials stressed, ERUR no longer holds rights to build Emerson Station.
Editor’s note: Michael Olohan flied an update Sept. 4, 2025: “Borough moves to condemn stalled Block 419 project, seek new redeveloper“