The last portion of the Epstein’s department store redevelopment will attempt to get off the ground at 7 o’clock tonight, Dec. 11, 2014, when developers make a new pitch to the Morristown council for a housing project on DeHart Street.
They will propose a five-story structure with 56 apartments. Three of the units would be designated as affordable.
“This project represents the last puzzle piece in the collective vision to create a true destination and cultural epicenter downtown. The area’s rebirth is a product of years of collaboration among Roseland, Woodmont, and the Town of Morristown, building a vibrant downtown for residents and visitors to live, work, and play,” Andy Marshall, executive vice president of development for Roseland, said Thursday in response to questions from MorristownGreen.com.
Some retail space on the ground floor also is back in the mix, according to town planning officials.
In March 2013, the same development group proposed a seven-story, 91-apartment building with no retail space. Neighbors objected to the height and density, Mayor Tim Dougherty concurred, and the developers went back to the drawing board.
The site, a vacant lot fronting the Morristown Parking Authority’s DeHart Street parking garage, is zoned for 36 condo units in five stories, with retail space, under terms of a 2005 redevelopment plan, and a redeveloper agreement that followed in 2007, said town planner Phil Abramson.
Based on those documents, the planner said, no affordable units are required if the developers — the Roseland and Woodmont companies –-stick to the 36 units specified originally.
But Mayor Dougherty indicated he was prepared to press for some affordable units if the builders asked to exceed that number. Marshall said his group rethought the project after extensive discussions with town officials.
A town ordinance mandates that 12.5 percent of new housing units be designated as affordable. That ratio is being applied to the new units being requested above the 36 that were exempt from the formula, per the original redevelopment plan.
Other key concerns also should get resolved over the next few months, the Mayor said.
“I’m looking forward to an outstanding architectural design. And now we can really talk about traffic, and how the garbage will be picked up,” he said.
The question of apartments-vs.-condos also could to be raised, at what is anticipated as the first in a series of hearings before the council (the town’s redevelopment agency) and the planning board. Thursday’s meeting is a first look at the revamped proposal; no council decision is expected.
According to Abramson, the redevelopment plan refers to condos. But changing economic trends have led builders to shift to apartments in recent years. Earlier this month, another company opened Modera 44, an upscale 268-unit apartment building at the town’s former public works headquarters, near Morristown High School.
Modera 44’s architect, Dean Marchetto, also is designing the DeHart Street project.
“Right now the [DeHart] site does nothing for the town. It really is an eyesore. We hope people come out and give feedback on whatever is important to them,” Abramson said.
The Epstein’s redevelopment has transformed the former department store — a fixture overlooking the Morristown Green for nearly a century — into the 40 Park luxury condos and The Metropolitan luxury apartments. Another 18 luxury town homes have filled a Maple Avenue parking lot as part of the redevelopment.
Ten affordable units at the Metropolitan, and a $750,000 payment in lieu of 10 more, were required by the town.
Roseland, a subsidiary of the Mack-Cali Realty Corp., aims to manage the DeHart site — presently called “Building C”– after developing it with Woodmont. The same arrangement was behind the creation of the 40 Park / Metropolitan complex and the Vail Mansion luxury condos.
