The road to Union It took time for Russo to clear the path for development of the former Merck site in Union Township

When Russo Development first sought to purchase the 55-acre site across the street from Kean University in 2014, the school balked, claiming it had secured right of first refusal on a portion of the land stemming from 1986 when the Kean family trustees passed partial ownership of the site to the pharmaceutical firm Schering-Plough Corp.