Business View Magazine | December 2020

389 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 BOROUGH OF SOUTH R I VER , NEW JERSEY what the future holds. We will also work on our master plan that is due next year; as part of that, I want to establish a committee that will work on how the downtown area will look like in five to ten years. “ Part of South River’s main street is an Economic Opportunity Zone that has been given a special tax incentive by the State government. Krenzel notes, “If you plan to have a business that is part of the street, can we take advantage of that? It is not easy, especially now with COVID-19, but the pandemic will not last forever. The question is what the future holds when we get beyond that. At this time, we are not offering any programs and incentives for businesses to update their properties or to attract any new businesses to the community. This is because we are built up, and there is no other place to come in.” Eppinger acknowledges, “One of the interesting things happening with our real estate market is that people are fleeing the five boroughs of NYC, savings could go up to $1 million per year based on some assumptions and projections. Eppinger notes, “We are really excited about this because not only will it help us with the cost of power, but it will also help us with our budget.” South River’s population is about 16000 and growing. According to the last census, the town is 83% residential. Business-wise, there are warehousing facilities in the north end and many commercial properties in the south. The Mayor admits, “The entire economy is in a state of flux. The need for small commercial spaces is declining in South River. For example, I have an office building that is residential upstairs, and my office is downstairs. The small office in the front has been empty for almost ten years. And I am not the only one with this problem. So, what we are trying to do is make it more like New York City with residential apartments on the top and commercial at the bottom. This will help the property owner to sustain the building in a tough economic climate, or to prepare for The Capitol Theater now as it is transforming into apartments and commercial space.