Marcal Paper Plans New $90 Million Warehouse in NJ After 2019 Fire

Marcal Paper, a unit of Atlas Holdings, and developer Crow Holdings set plans to build a $90-100 million distribution and warehouse facility on the site of a massive fire three years ago that destroyed most of the tissue paper mill, according to press reports in New Jersey.

Fueled by fierce winds, the Marcal tissue mill in Elmwood Park, NJ, burned down on Jan. 30, 2019, destroying 31 of 36 buildings at the two-paper machine location.

The mill employed about 500 workers at the time, with about 200 people on the premises when the blaze began. There were no reported injuries (P&PW, Feb. 1, 2019, p. 14).

The new development calls for a 206,000-ft2 state-of-the-art distribution facility on a portion of the mill property.

“Crow Holdings Development is rooted in the spirit of partnership, and we have been proud to work closely with Marcal, the community, and so many stakeholders to help redevelop this iconic site,” said Crow Holdings’ Sr managing director for the Northeast region Clark Machemer, in a release. “We recognize and appreciate the history of this site, and we look forward to bringing new economic activity to such a highly visible, prime location.”

After the 2019 fire, Atlas Holdings’ tissue business Soundview Paper and Marcal restored production at one of the two paper machines at Elmwood Park in early 2020. That mill operates PM 11 with capacity of 66,780 mtpy of parent tissue rolls, according to Fastmarkets’ Mill Benchmarking data.

Marcal Paper produces 88,000 mpty tissue and towel paper at four locations with 11 converting lines with capacity of 120,000 tons. Operations include its headquarters in Elmwood Park in northern New Jersey, and other mills in Brattleboro, VT, Putney, VT, and at Nittany Paper in Lewiston, PA (Jan. 17, 2020, p. 13).

Marcal dates to 1932. The company was a pioneer in developing the use of recovered paper to produce pulp and paper in the 1950s.

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