Bass Pro Shops Plans To Open Soon As Riverton Redevelopment Begin To Take Shape In Sayreville

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SAYREVILLE — After years of planning and construction, Sayreville’s new Bass Pro Shops could be weeks away from opening.

Work surrounding the store is “ramping up” as the developer prepares for a possible September or October opening, officials reported during the Aug. 13 meeting of the Sayreville Economic and Redevelopment Agency.

“They’re getting ready for an opening happening as soon as September, most likely October,” agency engineer Justin told commissioners.

Crews Are Preparing The Site For Opening

Recent work has included top paving, parking-lot striping and sidewalk installation around the store.

Water-main and concrete work near the neighboring QuickChek site is also moving forward as the developer works toward obtaining a temporary certificate of occupancy. That approval would allow the building to be occupied while certain remaining work is completed.

Bass Pro Shops will serve as one of the major retail anchors at Riverton, the large mixed-use redevelopment project along the Raritan River.

Commissioner Alberto Rios said a July 17 tour with members of the Borough Council gave him a better sense of the size of both the store and the larger redevelopment site.

“I was very impressed with the whole schematic of the store,” Rios said. “I didn’t even realize the site was so huge.”

The scale became particularly clear when he compared the store with the full Riverton property, Rios said.

“When you look at the size of the Bass Pro Shop and you’re like, ‘Wow,’ and then you look at the map and it’s just a little dot in the property—then it gives you an idea,” he said.

Hiring Efforts Are Also Underway

As construction continues, Bass Pro Shops has also begun recruiting employees for the Sayreville location.

SERA Executive Director Himanshu Shah said the retailer recently held a two-day hiring event at the site. Shah, who observed part of the event, said there were “a lot of people lining up there.”

The hiring activity prompted questions about whether Sayreville residents could receive preference for jobs created at Riverton.

Rios asked whether the agency could guarantee that a certain percentage of the positions would go to borough residents.

Agency Attorney Michael Baker said officials can require employment opportunities to be advertised locally, but they cannot require individual Riverton tenants to reserve a specific percentage of jobs for Sayreville residents.

“You can’t say X percent, but you can say things like you’re required to advertise in a local newspaper,” Baker said.

The agency can encourage businesses to hire locally and help make residents aware of available positions, Baker said, but “we can’t impose that on the tenants there.”

Shah said communication with Bass Pro Shops has been limited during the intensive construction period. He expects the agency to receive more information about hiring—including how many Sayreville residents were selected—after an official opening date is established.

Riverton Transit Study Remains In Progress

Elsewhere at the Riverton site, SERA continues working through the federal onboarding process for a Federal Transit Administration grant awarded in 2022.

The funding is intended to support a multimodal transportation study examining how people could travel to and around the redevelopment by different means. Officials said administrative requirements related to federal civil-rights compliance have contributed to delays.

Shah also noted that the Riverton redevelopment agreement gives the borough greater oversight than it would have through the traditional planning process.

“If you look at Riverton, it’s really beneficial to the borough,” Shah said.

Although officials discussed September and October as potential opening months for Bass Pro Shops, a final opening date was not announced during the meeting.

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