CommVault Leaving Oceanport for Fort Monmouth Property

, a software and data management company located at 2 Crescent Pl. in Oceanport, will be leaving the borough after agreeing to purchase property on former Fort Monmouth property.

The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) passed a resolution during Tuesday night's meeting in Eatontown that will allow the company to purchase parcel E in Tinton Falls. The parcel was once the site of Army housing.

Four proposals for the property were sent to FMERA, one commercial and three residential, but CommVault received the highest score of the applicants and was chosen for the property.

The plan is to now build a new facility for CommVault on the property and add jobs over time. The firm employs 540 people at its Oceanport location, but that number is expected to increase into the thousands after the move.

Tinton Falls sees this as the first step in recovery from fort closure.

Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera, who is a member of the FMERA board, said he is in favor of the move.

"CommVault will create thousands of good-paying jobs and will be a boost to the local economy," Skudera said on Wednesday. "This project will help Tinton Falls and the neighboring municipalities start to recover from the devastating closure of Fort Monmouth."

"My administration along with the borough council has been working very diligently to make sure the CommVault project is a success," Skudera continued.

Oceanport officials worry about the move's impact.

Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon cast the lone dissenting vote on the resolution to move the property to Fort Monmouth.

Mahon and other Oceanport councilmembers have criticized fort redevelopers for taking jobs away from Oceanport with the move.

The Oceanport Mayor told Patch on Wednesday that one of the larger concerns about the move is how the loss of 500 jobs from CommVault, on top of the combined 5,000 jobs lost through the closing of the fort, would impact the borough's affordable housing obligation.

"That COAH (Council on Affordable Housing) obligation remains unanswered," he said, adding that while municipalities need to add affordable housing as jobs increase, there is no decrease in the affordable housing obligation when jobs go away.

"We're also disappointed that FMERA went shopping in one of the three host communities," Mahon said. "On the other hand, we were delighted to have been the home for a corporation that has seen such successful growth."

Mahon said that he hoped that, with the help from a steadily improving economy, by the time CommVault moves from Oceanport -- he predicted about three years -- the property owner has a "long list of potential tenants."

Skudera said he understands Oceanport's frustrations but that CommVault's move was inevitable and necessary.

"CommVault is expanding and growing beyond their Oceanport headquarters,"  Skudera said. "They indicated that they have no intentions of staying in Oceanport and were looking to relocate elsewhere. It’s great that CommVault is staying local and have selected Tinton Falls to build their new headquarters."