CLIFTON — Black Prince Distillery, a mainstay at the corner of Clifton and Paulison avenues since 1982, is leaving the city.

The distillery, founded in 1934, according to its website, is working with Clifton Station Redevelopers LLC to explore project ideas for the 12-acre site — 8 of them tree-covered.

The developer's attorney, Joseph Wenzel, has asked the city to examine the site to see if it meets the criteria that would qualify it as an area in need of redevelopment.

"The property contains several abandoned industrial buildings that once housed a now discontinued distillery operation," Wenzel wrote in a June 13 letter to the council. "The remaining land on the subject property is vacant and underutilized."

The property is around the corner from the Clifton train station on Elm Street, which makes it appealing for residential projects, specifically high-end housing, officials said.

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Clifton Station Redevelopers officials recently met with the city's Economic Development Committee, which advised them to ask the city to consider the site appropriate for redevelopment. Often redevelopment projects receive tax abatements, but to qualify, sites must be "blighted" or underutilized, officials said.

City Manager Nick Villano said the Economic Development Committee told the developer the site would be suitable for industrial, retail or housing. The economic climate for retail, Villano said, is not favorable, and given the land's proximity to the train station, it may be an ideal location for housing.

It's not clear why Black Prince Distillery is leaving the city.

"I have not been able to get a definite answer about what happened to Black Prince," said Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi, also a member of the Economic Development Committee. "I actually have two different stories — one is their company got bought out by someone else or the opposite: They bought another company and are using the other plant."

Calls to Wenzel and principals for Black Prince were not returned. Online business sites show Black Prince's annual sales to exceed $5 million, with about 30 employees.

According to state tax records, Black Prince's property is assessed at $2.4 million and was assessed $126,767 in property taxes last year.

The distillery is a contract bottler and supplier of distilled spirits. It was the first company to produce a full line of low-proof cordials known as Llords. Their products are sold in more than 25 states, the Caribbean, Guam and Micronesia, according to WineCompass.com.

Before becoming home to Black Prince, the property was the site of wool manufacturer Samuel Hird and Co. Older city residents recall when sheep grazed on the front lawn of the wool company. Younger residents associate the Black Prince Distillery location with the infamous "Gates of Hell," a network of tunnels and storm sewers below ground that urban legend says is home to the Black Prince himself.

Email: fagan@northjersey.com