The site of the former Sheraton Crossroads in Mahwah is seemingly poised for a return to its industrial roots. After decades of attempts at reimagining the 142-acre site, developers Crossroads Developers LLC recently tore down the 25-story hotel and conference center, paving the way for the site to serve as a distribution center.
On the morning of May 10, the developer imploded the 365,904-square-foot building, marking the end of a troubled 36-year chapter for the site. The hotel closed for good in late December 2023, but portions of the property had been subdivided for office use and marketed as private suites, according to an archived listing on LoopNet.com. This pivot was not the first time that the property owners had shifted away from their original plans in response to changes in local demand.
The Sheraton Crossroads Hotel is no more
Video of the implosion in Mahwah, NJ https://t.co/jbyxiVeSRD pic.twitter.com/Gyf0w5HuHN
— Wake Up NJ 🇺🇸 New Jersey (@wakeupnj) May 10, 2025
According to a report in NorthJersey.com, the Sheraton Crossroads was intended as the first phase of a $300 million office complex that would span four to seven buildings. Developer James D’Agostino broke ground on the $90 million hotel in January 1986, but plans for the additional buildings were scrapped due to falling demand for suburban office space.
Other proposals to redevelop the site emerged later, including a plan to turn the area surrounding the hotel into a shopping mall and residential area. However, the owners of the property shifted away from that proposal after 2018 and began working with the township’s planning board in 2023 to build an industrial facility.
A memorialized resolution from the township’s planning board from November 2023 indicates that the developers, Crossroads Developers Associates LLC and Garde Crossroads LLC, intended to erect two buildings spanning 671,072 square feet and 1,015,752 square feet. However, the township council approved an amended plan to redevelop the site last year in August, expanding the maximum building square footage at the site from 1.7 million to 4 million square feet. That proposal also added additional permitted uses, including fulfillment center and data center space.
Although the developers have not yet submitted a formal plan for the project to the city’s planning and township council, the proposed industrial facilities will likely capitalize on the site’s strategic location next to U.S. Route 17 and 202, I-287, and its proximity to the New York State Thruway, to service large industrial tenants.
Notably, a report in NorthJersey.com stated that the site once housed the largest processing facility owned by Ford Motor, spanning 4.7 million square feet from 1955 to 1980. That industrial complex, which employed 4,500 workers and had a yearly payroll of $84.9 million, was torn down to make way for the now-demolished hotel.
