The 1.6-acre former firehouse property at 396 Broad Street is back on the market after a buyer walked away from a $5.45 million sale in May, and the financial toll of the failed Broad Street West redevelopment continues to mount for Summit taxpayers.

The city is still paying approximately $1.7 million a year in costs tied to the project, according to Annette Ricciardi's analysis of city certified financial statements, published as a TAPinto op-ed on Monday, July 14. That annual figure includes $1.3 million in principal and interest on the new fire headquarters' roughly $20 million share of city debt, plus more than $400,000 in commuter parking revenue permanently lost when the firehouse move eliminated over 140 non-resident parking spots.

Total taxpayer costs to date exceed $4 million, according to Ricciardi's analysis of those statements.

The new fire headquarters at 281 Broad Street, completed in October 2024, was financed with debt on the assurance that proceeds from Broad Street West would largely offset the cost. Those proceeds have not materialized, though the city did approve a sale in late 2025 before the buyer withdrew.

Sale collapsed in May

The Summit Common Council approved the $5.45 million sale of the old firehouse in December 2025. The deal fell apart in May 2026, with city officials saying they never received an explanation from the buyer.

Council President Toth addressed the situation at the Tuesday, June 16, council meeting, saying "the sale of the old firehouse didn't close as expected" and that the city was finalizing a parking agreement with St. Teresa's, planning an environmental analysis of the property, and considering whether a broker with more specialized experience would better serve the city, according to nj21st.com's meeting coverage.

Toth said the city's budget was balanced without the firehouse sale proceeds, meaning Summit was not "under the gun," but that officials still wanted to sell the property quickly.

As of mid-July, the property remains the subject of closed-session discussion at council meetings, alongside an active lawsuit related to the disputed sale, Patch reported on Wednesday, July 9.

Housing obligation met without the project

One detail that shapes the stakes: Summit's court-approved Fourth Round housing plan, approved by Superior Court Judge Daniel R. Lindemann on Thursday, February 12, confirms the city met its Third Round affordable housing obligations in full without Broad Street West. All 36 court-required units were delivered through nonprofits, congregations, and private applicants, including a Habitat for Humanity project on Morris Avenue and senior units at a Methodist church.

The Morris Broad Crossroads zone, which governs the 396 Broad Street parcel, counts toward Summit's Fourth Round obligation with a minimum of seven affordable units. The city receives its housing credit from the zoning itself, not from whether the parcel sells. In other words, the unsold firehouse site is a financial problem for the city, not a housing compliance one.

What recovery could look like

Ricciardi's analysis estimates that once the old firehouse site sells, taxpayers could recover roughly $850,000 per year: about $250,000 in debt retired by a $5.45 million sale, plus approximately $600,000 in annual tax revenue assuming a $40 million development value once the site is built out. Both figures are projections. A new sale may not reach $5.45 million, and a development reaching full assessed value is not guaranteed with the property back on the open market.

Broad Street West was originally conceived around 2019-2020 as a multiphase redevelopment covering roughly 10 acres of downtown, including the firehouse parcel, the post office, the YMCA and library, and adjacent parking areas. After residents rejected the project's scale, the plan was stripped down and the parcel rezoned under the Morris Broad Crossroads overlay in June 2024.

What's next

No new bid deadline or timeline for the 396 Broad Street property has been publicly announced. The city is pursuing the escrowed deposit from the failed sale, though the deposit amount has not been disclosed.