The public got its first glimpse Tuesday of what may replace mostly vacant storefronts near the historic Morristown Green, along North Park Place and wrapping around to Washington Street.
A proposal for 160 apartments and/or condos, 143,900 square feet of commercial office space, and 43,500 square feet of ground-level retail was presented to the town council, which unanimously endorsed it via resolution.
“This is a mixed use, smart-growth project that creates a high-quality vision for the downtown, along with preservation, place-making and affordable housing. It has all the ingredients for success,” project architect Dean Marchetto said.
FIRST LOOK: RENDERINGS OF PROPOSED FACELIFT. Click/hover on images for captions.
North Park Place Holdings LLC — a joint venture of Cannon Hill Capital Partners and TAG Development LLC — now has 120 days to negotiate a deal to purchase the storefronts from owner Dave Brown.
If Brown does not play ball, the council can condemn his properties, which are deemed blighted by the governing body. Some of the storefronts have been vacant for years, at what is arguably the downtown’s premier location.
A lawyer for Brown, Anne Babineau, came to the microphone and entreated the council instead to grant a 120-day window to her client, to close a sale to SJP Properties, developer of the M Station office complex and the Valley Bank headquarters in Morristown.
But town officials’ patience has worn thin. Morristown’s redevelopment counsel noted that SJP Properties was not among the six builders who submitted redevelopment plans when the town solicited proposals.
“We did not want to waste time. We wanted to get the process rolling, and this was a way to do that,” John Inglesino said of the council resolution.
‘A HIDDEN TREASURE OF MORRISTOWN’
A key feature touted by North Park Place Holdings is a 15,000-square-foot courtyard. It would be accessible from North Park Place via a pair of pedestrian corridors, which also would provide foot access to the Dalton garage on Cattano Avenue.
Marchetto envisions the courtyard as a “hidden treasure for Morristown…one of those magical hidden places that happen in downtowns that are special.”
When lined with retail and restaurants, this space could become “a cool, hip gathering place with an urban vibe–maybe a Christmas market or farmers market kind of place,” said the architect, whose Morristown projects have included The Lofts apartments and the triangular Fox Rothschild law offices.
Twenty-four of the new dwelling units (15 percent) would be designated as affordable. A five-story mixed-use building would replace the former Century 21 at the corner of North Park Place and Speedwell Avenue. The department store closed its doors in 2020. Its next door neighbor at 10 North Park Place, home to the Gensler design firm, would remain intact.
The project would be slightly smaller, in terms of floor space, than the maximum allowed at this redevelopment site. Marchetto said he aims for quality over quantity. Materials would include brick, stone, metal and glass, he said, and top floors would be stepped back for better aesthetics.
Mayor Tim Dougherty’s office vetted the submissions and recommended this one to the council.
“Very creative,” Dougherty said of the proposal. “I thought they kept it in scale” with the downtown.
Cannon Co-Founder Eric Rubin spoke briefly during the 25-minute presentation, mentioning that his New York company has Morristown roots, from his days at the former Normandy Real Estate Partners. Cannon has major commercial and residential projects from Boston to Washington DC.
TAG CEO Ralph Salermo also attended. Based in Elizabeth, his company has mixed-use projects in various stages of development in Newark and Jersey City, according to TAG’s website.
The council also has threatened to condemn former law offices owned by Brown on Washington Street. Those conjoined buildings have sat empty for more than a decade.
Brown claimed to have reached agreement in 2022 to sell those buildings and his North Park Place holdings to a Lakewood developer for $57 million. The purported deal fell through, and Brown sued the developer
Morristown needs taller buildings, and more building height variety. A few NIMBYs are trying to keep everything very low and boring. I like this project, but it could be so much better if there were somewhat higher density, with more building height variation and taller buildings.
This is spectacular. Though, I would have also preferred a much needed additional hotel included. This is not an attempt to be fake colonial style architecture. It is first class urban design that will likely evolve a bit with further feedback. Mid-rise scale is appropriate for downtown Morristown. I expect this will bring a higher end shopping element, not just restaurants / bars. This will bring a ton of happiness to the county and increase the tax base. On a side note, I love our local AMC theater and have worried about its future since the pandemic. These types of developments reinforce the future prosperity of so many local businesses.
Better than what’s there, and I love the large courtyard area.
But I agree with Jeff – the town is so obsessed with limited building heights, that for some reason an equal level 5 story building across the whole block is better than staggered building heights? I highly disagree. Leads to a boring, corridor like effect. This was a result of the never build anything crowd outcrying over buildings.
Have at least one of the corner buildings, maybe where century 21 is, go 8-9 stories of downtown office space with a non squared off top to add character. Need at least 200k sq ft office to attract larger scale, more permanent companies anyways. The lower buildings to the left can be residential or a mix.
It is great to see the continuing renaissance of downtown. I was on South Street last month at 7:00 PM on a Monday and it was happening!
Stories like this keep reinforcing its status as THE urban center of NW New Jersey and, pound-for-pound, one of the best downtowns I have ever seen. (For large cities I will go with Chicago all day long). This is just me, but I feel rather lukewarm about this project. It’s a lot better than what is there now, but… Why not taller buildings? Offices? And I know that I keep bringing it up, but why not a hotel? After all, one was needed with the failed Cambria. But now with thousands of new downtown employees additional hotel space isn’t needed? I don’t get it.
One final note: Do you know what’s worse than a lot of traffic in a city’s core? Light traffic.