Anthony Licciardello | October 18, 2026
Carteret, NJ
Carteret broke ground in December on a forty-eight million dollar ferry terminal that will put commuters on a boat to Wall Street for the first time since the 1950s. The bulkhead is in, the dredging is done, and one of the two boats is already tied up at the municipal marina. What has not happened yet is anybody signing a ferry operator — and a 2019 account had this terminal finished by 2022.
This is real and it is not finished. A $47,502,761 contract is awarded, ground was broken December 12, 2025, 130 feet of bulkhead and 19,500 cubic feet of dredging are complete, and one of two boats — the Theodore Roosevelt — is already docked at the municipal marina. Service is projected at two to three Manhattan stops including the World Financial Center and Wall Street. But no ferry operator has been signed, completion is quoted as December 2027 or early 2028, and a 2019 account had this terminal finished by 2022. Price the Carteret that exists. Treat the boat as upside.
Everything below is drawn from Borough announcements, state agency material and news reporting, and infrastructure timelines move. We make no prediction about whether, when, or on what terms ferry service begins. Confirm current status, scope and schedule with the Borough of Carteret before relying on any of it.
The Borough broke ground on December 12, 2025 at a brownfield site formerly owned by DuPont on the Arthur Kill waterfront, with Governor Phil Murphy, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Mayor Daniel J. Reiman attending. It restores ferry service to Carteret for the first time since the 1950s — a vision the Mayor has pursued, by his own account, for 24 years.
$47,502,761 construction contract awarded late October 2025 to Brockwell and Carrington Contractors of Towaco, NJ
Four storeys, 52,000 square feet, roughly 12,500 square feet per floor, at 200 Middlesex Avenue beside Waterfront Park
A seven-acre former DuPont site
130 feet of steel sheet pile bulkhead installed along the Arthur Kill
19,500 cubic feet of dredging completed to achieve depth for the ferry slips and docking area
In-water terminal docks and gangplanks in place
A 700-space parking lot
Two ferry boats — one christened the Theodore Roosevelt, docked at Carteret Municipal Marina; the second under construction in New Orleans
Fully ADA-accessible terminal building and site infrastructure
The funding stack is public and specific, which is itself a signal — vague projects do not publish grant schedules. Reported awards include $1.9 million from the NJ Urban Enterprise Zone Authority toward the retail space, $5 million from the Carteret Business Partnership paid at $1 million a year over five years, and $5.38 million from the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program of the state Transportation Trust Fund Authority.
And the building is designed as a destination rather than a waiting room. Planned contents include a concourse and waiting area, ticketing, a newsstand, dining, administrative offices, leasable office space on the second floor, a restaurant, banquet hall and training centre, a bar and lounge, an event hall, retail, and rooftop amenities with panoramic views of Raritan Bay and the New York skyline. The architects describe it as a dual-purpose transit centre and hospitality venue.
Here is where a buyer needs to separate the concrete from the rendering, because the coverage generally does not.
The Borough is building a terminal. It is not, so far as we can determine, operating a ferry. Reporting at the time of groundbreaking noted that service might begin before the building opens — with ticketing by smartphone app or a kiosk on the dock — "that is, if Carteret signs a deal with a ferry provider to provide the service, such as NY Waterways or SeaStreak."
That conditional is the single most important word in this entire project for anyone pricing a house on it. A terminal without an operator is a building. The Borough owns two boats, which materially strengthens its position — but owning vessels and running a commuter service to Manhattan are different undertakings. Ask the Borough whether an operator agreement has been executed.
Service: "two to three stops in Manhattan" at three or four trips each morning and evening, per the Mayor — with frequency "increased as ridership demands." Destinations named elsewhere include the World Financial Center, West 39th Street and Wall Street.
Construction: 18 to 24 months from groundbreaking, with completion anticipated December 2027
Opening: separately reported as the town "aiming for an early 2028 opening"
Fares, schedule and operator: unannounced
A 2019 account of the same project reported the ferry terminal as "set for completion by 2022," alongside a planned events centre, urban beach, amphitheatre and Ferris wheel. Ground was actually broken in December 2025, with completion now put at 2027 or 2028.
That is roughly five to six years of slippage on a project that is now, unambiguously, under construction. We are not suggesting it will slip again — the contract, the funding and the physical work are all real in a way they were not in 2019. But a buyer paying today for a 2028 amenity should know the history of the date. Infrastructure of this kind is worth what it is worth when it opens, not when it is announced.
A valuation model prices the waterfront that exists. It cannot see a forty-eight million dollar terminal going up beside it.
There is a real difference between marketing a house near a construction site and marketing one near a funded, contracted, physically-underway ferry terminal with the bulkhead in and a boat at the dock. The first needs explaining away; the second needs explaining properly — with dates, contract values and an honest note on what is not yet signed. That is how you reach a buyer who will pay for it. We value from matched closed sales and bring the New York metro pool that looks hardest at exactly this kind of waterfront.
This is the detail that turns a borough project into a corridor one, and almost nobody outside Carteret has noticed it. The terminal is intermodal by design — built to accommodate NJ Transit buses, NJ Rideshare and a municipal jitney. And the jitney is planned to shuttle passengers throughout the borough and to the Rahway and Woodbridge train stations.
If the jitney runs as planned, a Woodbridge or Rahway rail commuter gains a second route to Manhattan that does not involve a train — and one that lands at the World Financial Center or Wall Street rather than Penn Station. For anyone working downtown, that is a materially different proposition from the Northeast Corridor.
It also reaches the section of Woodbridge that looks directly across at this shoreline. Sewaren sits on the Arthur Kill a short distance north, is undergoing its own waterfront rebuild, and trades at the bottom of the Woodbridge range. Two adjoining municipalities converting industrial shoreline to public use at the same time is not a coincidence — it is a regional shift, and the towns on that water are the ones it reaches first.
And the terminal is only part of what is planned for that site. The ferry occupies seven acres of a former DuPont property, and the Borough intends to obtain the balance to develop a movie studio, a hotel and more. A film studio and a hotel on the same brownfield as a Manhattan ferry terminal is a different order of proposition from a park improvement — though it is also, at this stage, exactly the kind of plan that has not yet been contracted. Treat it accordingly.
What already exists on that waterfront is more than most people assume. The Borough reports a fishing pier, a public park, a mini golf course, a 185-slip marina, a newly constructed Performing Arts and Events Center, and a soon-to-open Riverwalk, Pier Pavilion and mobile kitchen — on a shoreline the Mayor describes as having been "once inaccessible, completely industrial." The transformation did not begin with the ferry. The ferry is the largest piece of something already well under way.
Contracted: a $47.5 million terminal, a named builder, bulkhead, dredging, docks, a 700-space lot, two boats. Announced: service frequency, Manhattan stops, a movie studio, a hotel. The first is a reason to pay something today. The second is a reason to watch.
Has an agreement been executed with a ferry provider, and with whom? It is public information, it takes one call, and it is the difference between a terminal that will run boats and a terminal that will need someone to run them. Ask the same about the studio and hotel parcels.
If you would be commuting from Carteret in 2026, you are driving, taking a bus, or getting to a train station — the ferry is at minimum a year and a half away and not yet crewed. Test the commute you will actually make for the next two years, at your real hour, before you count the one that may follow it.
The terminal sits on a former DuPont site, and this whole stretch of the Arthur Kill was industrial. Direct environmental questions about any specific parcel to your own attorney and appropriate professionals, and get flood determination and an insurance quote early — the same discipline that applies across the water in Sewaren. You evaluate the address, not the borough.
The honest summary is that this is the strongest infrastructure story in the corridor and it is not yet a commute. Forty-seven and a half million dollars of contracted construction on a waterfront that already has a marina, a park and an arts centre is not speculation. But a boat needs a crew and a schedule, and neither exists yet.
Which puts a buyer in an unusually good position, if they are clear-eyed. The premium that a working Manhattan ferry would command is not in today's prices, because today there is no ferry. Buying before an amenity opens is how you capture it — and the risk you are accepting in exchange is that the date moves again, as it has before. That is a legitimate trade. It is just not a free one.
Go and look at the Theodore Roosevelt. It is a ferry boat, it is christened, and it is tied up at the Carteret Municipal Marina right now — you can drive down and see it. That single object tells you more about this project's seriousness than any press release, because a borough that has bought and named a vessel is a borough with capital committed and a reason to finish. Then walk the Waterfront Park beside it and look at the bulkhead. Thirty minutes will tell you whether this reads as a construction site with a plan or a plan with a construction site — and that distinction is worth real money to anyone deciding whether to buy here now or in 2028. Do the same walk you would do before buying any house near promised infrastructure. Most people never do, and then pay retail after it opens.
"Forty-seven and a half million dollars, contract awarded, ground broken in December, bulkhead in, dredging done, and one of the two boats is already sitting at the marina with a name on it. That's not a rendering — that's a project. But here's what the coverage doesn't lead with: nobody's signed a ferry operator yet. The Borough is building a terminal; it isn't running a boat. And a 2019 article had this thing finished by 2022, so the date has moved before. None of that means don't buy here. It means buy the Carteret that exists today — the marina, the park, the arts center, the price — and treat the ferry as upside you didn't pay for. If it runs in twenty-eight you've captured something. If it slips again you still own what you bought. That's a trade. It just isn't a free one."
— Anthony Licciardello, Broker, The Prodigy Team
Separating a funded project from a press release is what a decade inside municipal government teaches you: I'm Anthony Licciardello, Broker of The Prodigy Team, a former Director of Community Affairs in the Bloomberg Administration, now dual-licensed in New York and New Jersey and a leading broker for cross-border New York–New Jersey transactions.
Anthony Licciardello · Broker, The Prodigy Team · 718-873-7345
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What is being built on the Carteret waterfront?
A four-storey, 52,000-square-foot Multimodal Ferry Terminal Building at 200 Middlesex Avenue, beside Waterfront Park on a seven-acre former DuPont brownfield. Ground was broken December 12, 2025, under a $47,502,761 contract awarded to Brockwell and Carrington Contractors. Completed work includes 130 feet of steel sheet pile bulkhead, 19,500 cubic feet of dredging, and in-water docks and gangplanks, with a 700-space parking lot and two ferry boats — one, the Theodore Roosevelt, already docked at the municipal marina. It restores ferry service for the first time since the 1950s.
When will the Carteret ferry actually run?
Nobody can say, and two different completion dates are in circulation. Construction is reported at 18 to 24 months from groundbreaking with completion anticipated December 2027; separate reporting has the town "aiming for an early 2028 opening." More importantly, no ferry operator has been signed — coverage notes service could start earlier "if Carteret signs a deal with a ferry provider." And a 2019 account had this same terminal set for completion by 2022. Ask the Borough whether an operator agreement has been executed.
Where would the Carteret ferry go?
Projected, not scheduled. The Mayor has described "two to three stops in Manhattan" at three or four trips each morning and evening, with frequency increasing as ridership demands. Destinations named in project material include the World Financial Center, West 39th Street and Wall Street — which would make it a downtown-oriented alternative to the Northeast Corridor. The terminal is intermodal, accommodating NJ Transit buses, NJ Rideshare and a municipal jitney planned to serve the Rahway and Woodbridge train stations. Fares and schedules are unannounced.
Should I buy in Carteret because of the ferry?
Buy the Carteret that exists and treat the ferry as upside you did not pay for. What exists today is real: a 185-slip marina, a public park, a fishing pier, a newly constructed Performing Arts and Events Center, and a soon-to-open Riverwalk. What does not exist yet is a crewed, scheduled ferry service. The premium a working Manhattan ferry would command is not in today's prices precisely because there is no ferry — buying before an amenity opens is how you capture that, and the risk you accept is that the date moves again, as it has before. A legitimate trade, but not a free one.
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Details as of publication, from the sources noted, and subject to change. Infrastructure timelines move and this project's has moved before; we make no prediction about whether, when, or on what terms ferry service begins. Confirm current status, scope, schedule and operator arrangements directly with the Borough of Carteret. Groundbreaking and contract per Borough of Carteret announcements and news coverage: the Borough broke ground on the Carteret Multimodal Ferry Terminal Building on December 12, 2025 at a brownfield site formerly owned by DuPont on the Arthur Kill waterfront, with Governor Phil Murphy, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Mayor Daniel J. Reiman attending; in late October a construction contract of $47,502,761 was awarded to Brockwell and Carrington Contractors of Towaco, NJ to construct the four-story, 52,000-square-foot ferry hub; the project returns ferry service to Carteret for the first time since the 1950s, fulfilling a vision Mayor Reiman has pursued for 24 years. Completed work reported to date includes installation of 130 feet of steel sheet pile bulkhead along the Arthur Kill waterfront, 19,500 cubic feet of dredging of the waterside of the bulkhead to achieve sufficient depths for the ferry slips and docking area, in-water terminal docks and gangplanks, a 700-space parking lot, and two ferry boats — one christened the Theodore Roosevelt, docked at Carteret Municipal Marina, and the other under construction in New Orleans. Funding reported includes a $1.9 million award from the NJ Urban Enterprise Zone Authority toward the retail space, a $5 million grant from the Carteret Business Partnership awarded in annual amounts of $1 million over five years, and a $5.38 million grant from the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program of the state Transportation Trust Fund Authority. Building program per the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank and reporting: approximately 12,500 square feet per floor, an information display system providing fares, timetables, maps and connecting transit details, a concourse and waiting area, restrooms, a newsstand, dining options and administrative offices, with the terminal building and all site infrastructure fully ADA-accessible; further reporting describes leasable second-floor office space, a restaurant, banquet hall and training center, a bar/lounge, an event hall, retail and rooftop amenities with panoramic views of Raritan Bay and the New York City skyline; the architects describe a dual-purpose transit center and hospitality venue; the terminal is located at 200 Middlesex Avenue beside Waterfront Park. Projected service per Mayor Reiman as reported: two to three stops in Manhattan with three or four trips in the morning and three or four in the evening, to be increased as ridership demands; project material names the World Financial Center, West 39th Street and Wall Street among destinations; construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months with completion anticipated by December 2027, while separate reporting states the town is aiming for an early 2028 opening. 🔴 No ferry operator agreement is reported as executed. Coverage at groundbreaking noted that ferry service may start before the terminal opens, with ticketing via smartphone app or dockside kiosk — "that is, if Carteret signs a deal with a ferry provider to provide the service, such as NY Waterways or SeaStreak." Fares, schedules and operator remain unannounced so far as we can determine. Slippage context: a January 2019 account of the same project reported the ferry terminal as "set for completion by 2022," alongside a planned events center, urban beach, amphitheatre and Ferris wheel; that is reported here as historical context on the project's timeline and not as a criticism of the current, contracted phase. Intermodal connections reported: NJ Transit buses, municipal jitneys and NJ Rideshare, with the jitney planned to shuttle passengers throughout the borough and to the Rahway and Woodbridge train stations. Existing waterfront per Borough material: a fishing pier, a public park, a mini golf course, a 185-slip marina, a newly constructed Performing Arts and Events Center, and a soon-to-open Riverwalk, Pier Pavilion and mobile kitchen; the seven-acre ferry site is part of a former DuPont property, the balance of which the Borough states it will obtain to develop a movie studio, hotel "and much more" — that further development is not reported as contracted and should be treated as a plan rather than a commitment. No representation is made regarding environmental conditions, remediation status or contamination history of any parcel on this corridor; buyers should direct environmental questions to their own attorney and appropriate professionals and obtain independent inspections and reports. Household income, age, household composition and school rating data have been deliberately excluded, as we exclude such material for every community we cover; promotional characterisations appearing in official statements are not reproduced. This is general information and market commentary, not legal, environmental, tax or investment advice.
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